


Unique in All the World

by Kimium, ObscureReference



Series: Mafia AU [4]
Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Brief description of dead bodies, Disassociation, Established Relationship, Flirting, M/M, Mafia AU, Minor Character Death, Minor Injuries, Mistaken Identity, Modern AU, Oblivious, Self-Esteem Issues, Slow Burn, University Student Owain, brief gun violence, part four
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-08
Updated: 2018-12-08
Packaged: 2019-09-13 14:11:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 44,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16894128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kimium/pseuds/Kimium, https://archiveofourown.org/users/ObscureReference/pseuds/ObscureReference
Summary: Mafia AU. Modern AU. Part Four. Owain's POV.“Uh, hey… Leo?” Owain tried.Leo blinked and whipped his head around to stare at him. Owain flushed.“Sorry, we had a couple of classes together last semester? Do you remember?” Owain offered as an explanation.“Yes,” Leo said after a moment. “You’re... Odin.”In where Owain gains a (mysterious!) nickname and a cool (mysterious!) new friend.





	Unique in All the World

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone, it's us! We're alive!
> 
> This is Kimium here! So sorry this took so long. Personal lives sort of took over. We are done our next part in our Mafia AU, which is Owain's POV. This was a lot of fun as we got to build on a different kind of relationship between not just Owain and Leo, but also Owain, Niles, and Leo. The dynamic of three people was a ton of fun to tackle and I hope you all enjoy it. As always, it's an utter pleasure to work with ObscureReference. She's a fantastic co-writer (and writer in general!) so go check out her other works if you haven't already. Finally, if you wish to check my tumblr out, it's right [here](http://www.kimium.tumblr.com).
> 
> Hey! ObscureReference here! I know this update is so very late compared to the last parts, so thank you for your patience! This is 100% due to my own being busy and writer's block the past few months. (For those of you who don't know, I'm currently in Japan, so the last few scene of this fic were written while Kimium and I are in entirely different time zones, lol. But even before that I was having some difficulty working on this fic in a timely manner, which I am very sorry about). Kimium has been so extraordinarily patient and supportive of me during this time, and I'm so grateful that she's been my co-author for this fic! Definitely go check out her other fics if you haven't yet! And also you can find my tumblr [here!](http://someobscurereference.tumblr.com/)

It was first day of the new semester, and Owain had slept in.

His hair was spiked in different directions, some flatter than the others, obviously showcasing what side he had fallen asleep on. Not that it mattered with the length of his hair, so Owain barely gave it a finger comb before he threw on a shirt that may or may not have been wrinkled, some jeans, and his messenger bag. He threw whatever notebook was on his desk, his phone, and his wallet into the bag before grabbing his keys and racing out the door. His stomach growled, and Owain hoped that he’d have time before class to grab something; otherwise it would be a very long lecture.

Hopping on the bus, Owain rummaged through his wallet, trying to find his bus pass. When he realized that he had left that at home, he grumbled but thankfully had the change to pay the fare.

Once on board, Owain found an empty seat and flopped down, pulling his phone out and scrolled through his feed. Inigo had a post about an upcoming performance. The opening night was relatively soon. Severa also had a new blog post. Then there were other things, messages from his mother wishing him a good first day of the semester, a reminder from his father to help out with some taekwondo classes during weekends if he wasn’t too busy, and a message from his aunt regarding a family dinner next week. Making a mental note to message Lucina so they could carpool, Owain replied to his mother and father and then got off at the next stop.

Students were already bustling around the bus station in front of the main plaza on campus. Less students than there would have been during the spring or fall semesters, mind you, but a crowd nonetheless. Owain pushed through them, yelling half apologies as he raced through the building to his class. Thankfully this wasn’t Owain’s first semester or he would have been lost. Instead he expertly dodged people and slipped through the doors, down the hallway, and into the large lecture theater.

Some may have questioned question why Owain was racing towards a class that had nothing to do with his major or minor. Sure, Political History was his class just for a Humanities requirement—hence why he was taking it in the summer instead of the main semesters, among other reasons—but Owain always had enjoyed history class through the years. Having family in politics also helped spark the interest. Aunt Emmeryn was the mayor of Ylisse, after all. Like Emmeryn, the figures, the stories—they were real, actual events and people.

All stories were real to Owain, though. He thrived off stories—lived and breathed them. When he was younger, Owain had spent countless hours insisting Inigo and Severa play along with his skits. In school, Owain took any opportunity to act and perform. He took drama and creative writing classes. Owain ate every story up, reading in the back of the library during breaks or spares or when he wasn’t busy with a drama performance or taekwondo classes at his father’s studio.

It was only natural, then, that Owain decided to focus on drama and creative writing for his degree. No one was surprised, and Owain already had a manuscript on his computer. Someday, he’d be published and then everyone could enjoy his stories, but until then Owain had to work hard and complete the courses for his degree.

Humanities should have been an easy category to fulfill, but there were still certain degree requirements he had to fulfill in order to graduate. History had seemed like a good alternative to the dry and dull English courses his school offered. Owain couldn’t stand sitting down to read a book when he could have been writing his own.

Still, classes had filled up quickly, and Owain hadn’t been able to get into any actually appealing history classes this past spring semester. Nor had he been able to the semester before. Despite how large the history classes at Owain’s university could be, history was still a requirement for a lot of incoming freshmen and Owain was a little late in the game. Which was why he’d decided to take history in the summer, when most other college students would be enjoying their time off in the heat.

Owain wasn’t looking forward to the long hours spent in a stuffy auditorium when most everyone else he knew would be on vacation, but he was looking forward to getting several much-needed credits out of the way. The possibility of possibly graduating a semester early wasn’t unappealing either.

Which was why Owain was a little disappointed in himself for running late on the very first day. He couldn’t afford to get into the lazy summer mood just yet. Not when there was work to be done. Thankfully it seemed like he had made it just in time.

The theater where Owain’s class was being held was one of the huge ones that could easily hold one hundred and fifty students. Owain looked around, hoping for an empty seat close to the end of a row. The last thing anyone wanted was someone jostling through their row for a seat. His eyes scanned the room before they landed on a row with a seat by the end, next to a blond boy.

Owain’s eyes widened with recognition. If Owain remembered correctly, his name was Leo and they had shared a few classes together before. Leo was a quiet, intelligent person who kept mainly to himself. Owain was sure it was because growing up Leo was a bookworm, someone who preferred to sit in the back and read rather than join in. He certainly had that look about him, anyway.

Owain always hated seeing people alone, wanting to bring everyone into the group, so he moved down the aisle and coughed to get Leo’s attention. Leo looked up politely.

“Sorry, is this seat taken?” Owain hastily asked. Class was about to start.

Leo opened his mouth, but the professor suddenly strode up to the podium. Owain shot an apologetic look and sat down carefully, trying to not elbow Leo and cause him to drop his tablet. Leo didn’t protest, and Owain was grateful.

Digging silently into his bag, Owain pulled his notebook out and tried to dig around for a pen, but froze. He didn’t have one. Of course. He wanted to smack himself, but now wasn’t the time. Sure, Owain had a phone and he could type his notes on a memo pad, but Owain hated using his phone for notes. The screen was too small and the keyboard too finicky to type long paragraphs. His best option was to ask Leo for a pen.

“Uh, hey… Leo?” Owain tried.

Leo blinked and whipped his head around to stare at him. Owain flushed.

“Sorry, we had a couple of classes together last semester? Do you remember?” Owain offered as an explanation.

“Yes,” Leo said after a moment. “You’re... Odin.”

Owain perked up. Odin. A nickname? He never had a nickname for more than two weeks. When he was younger he’d always tried to create nicknames for himself, but they never stuck. Either because they were too long or because Severa and Inigo would outright refuse to use them. Yet here Leo was, within a few minutes of conversation, creating a nickname that sounded cool and worked well.

They’d have to be friends, Owain silently vowed.

“Right. I, uh… forgot a pen, so I was wondering if I could borrow one?”

Leo silently dug into his bag and pulled out a pen. It was a nice pen. Not the cheap kind Owain liked to buy, but a slight step up from bulk pens. It even had a comfortable grip. Owain took it and gave a smile.

“Thank you,” he whispered.

Leo nodded and turned his attention back to the lecture. Owain opened his notebook and began to write, but all the while his heart was fluttering. Leo gave him a nickname. Leo gave him a nickname right off the bat. Owain smiled and felt a friendship begin to bloom. He couldn’t wait for class to be over.

 

~

 

Class was dismissed five minutes before the hour like every other class Owain had taken so far in his college career, and while everyone else packed up as swiftly as they could so they could be literally anywhere else as soon as possible, Owain turned to Leo and held out the borrowed pen.

“Thanks again,” he said.

Leo glanced up from where he was fiddling with his satchel, seemingly unsure of what Owain meant. Then his eyes landed on the pen he’d lended Owain. He took it, nodding in acknowledgement, and turned away.

“What are you majoring in?” Owain asked, making Leo pause again.

After a beat, Leo answered. “Law.”

He began stuffing his tablet into his bag with more force than Owain thought strictly necessary.

Owain nodded. Leo seemed like the serious lawyer type. “That’s pretty cool! I’m—oh, okay, we’re walking now.”

Leo had stood up while Owain was speaking, quickly making his way into the throng of students trying to push themselves out the door. Owain hopped up and followed.

“Sorry, you probably have a class right after this, right?” Owain said, keeping pace with Leo. It was a little strange to take more than a few classes in the summer considering the long hours, but taking two classes or so wasn’t uncommon. Owain himself was taking one other “difficult” class besides Political History, and another easy one credit class on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It was a bit of a busy schedule considering how rushed summer classes always were, but he was pretty sure he could handle it.

Leo looked steadfast ahead, shouldering his way through the crowd. “Yeah.”

Owain hadn’t spoken to Leo very much in the previous semesters—he mostly knew Leo’s name from overhearing professors call on him—but he was quickly getting the feeling Leo was the shy type.

That was fine, Owain thought. He’d been the outgoing one out of a duo before, especially during Inigo’s crybaby years. Leo had given him a nickname and let him borrow his rather nice pen, so even if he wasn’t very talkative, Owain felt more than assured that his presence was welcome.

“Law students are probably pretty busy, huh?” Owain mused. “Hey, if you ever miss class or anything, we could always study—”

“I have to get to class now,” Leo said hastily. “I’m going—not your way.”

“Oh, alright. See ya!”

He barely got the last word out before Leo rushed off, clearly not wanting to be late for class like Owain had been. He smiled to himself a bit sheepishly to himself at the reminder.

Political History lasted until morning was creeping into noon, but Owain had just enough time before his second class to grab something cheap to eat before his stomach began to gnaw at itself. Owain had thought about offering to get something with Leo if he was hungry as well, but clearly they just didn’t have the time. If Leo had another class after Political History every day, Owain doubted they could ever grab a late brunch together.

Maybe they could do an early breakfast, though, if Leo didn’t mind waking up that early. Too bad Owain had forgotten to ask for Leo’s number. They could do that next time though.

With that mental note in mind, Owain wandered off to find something to eat before he had to run to class again.

 

~

 

Political History was held on a Monday, Wednesday, and Friday schedule, so it wasn’t until Wednesday that Owain saw Leo again. This time, however, he came prepared.

For one thing, he hadn’t slept in. For another, Owain had brought breakfast with him.

“Morning,” Owain greeted, settling into the seat beside Leo. “Want one?”

He offered one of the easy-bake croissants he’d thrown in the oven for ten minutes the night before. The napkin he offered it in was only slightly dotted with grease. Owain thought they were pretty good. He’d eaten most of them for dinner last night, but he’d purposely saved three for the morning and now he offered one to Leo.

“No, thank you,” Leo said gruffly. He barely glanced away from his tablet screen, typing away on his removable keyboard. Owain watched him open up the same note document as last time _._

“Are you feeling alright?” Owain asked, a little struck by the tone of Leo’s voice.

There was a slight pause before Leo answered. Owain was growing used to those. “Fine.”

Owain shrugged. If Leo was getting sick this early in the semester, that was a bummer, but a croissant probably wasn’t going to help him very much. Owain was hungry, so he tore into his breakfast.

It was hard to talk with his mouth full and Leo seemed pretty focused, so they didn’t do a lot of chatting before class. He managed to finish all three croissants just in time for the lights to dim and the slideshow to go up on the board.

This time Owain had remembered to bring his own notebooks and pens. He flashed a grin to Leo, wondering if he would notice and say something cheeky, but he didn’t and the professor was speaking, so Owain got to writing his notes.

He managed to fill up three solid pages with notes before he was finished. Owain’s hand was somewhat cramping. Class was only an hour long, but the professor spoke _fast_. Owain didn’t particularly mind. He had time to draw little lightning bolts and other signifiers around the really important names so he could keep them in mind for later, so he counted that as a win.

When class ended, the other students and Leo rushed to leave again. Owain quickly followed Leo once more.

“Hey, so I was thinking, we can probably exchange phone numbers—”

“I don’t have a phone,” Leo said, craning his neck to see through the crowd. He made his way towards the nearest exit.

“Really?” Owain said, surprised. “Did yours break or something? Man, that’s bad luck.”

Leo hummed noncommittally. Owain took that as agreement.

He continued, “I can still give you my number number for when you get a working phone then.”

It couldn’t take too long. Everyone needed a phone nowadays. He slowed down to swing his backpack off his shoulder, fumbling for a pen and a spare sheet of paper he could scribble his phone number onto.

“Later,” Leo said shortly, before Owain even had the chance to write anything down.

Owain wasn’t sure if Leo meant he would get Owain’s phone number later or if he was saying goodbye. Before he could sort it out, Leo was gone.

He moved fast, Owain thought. But again, he reminded himself, Leo did have class. Probably on the other side of campus, if the way he rushed to get there was any indication. Owain really should have learned his lesson last time. They just didn’t have the time to chat unless it was before their Political History class.

The croissants had been nice, so he didn’t particularly need a second breakfast, but Owain’s abyss of a stomach didn’t really mind the thought. Alternatively, he could have taken the time to get ahead in his readings. Both ideas were equally tempting. He was lucky he didn’t have back to back classes this semester. The extra time was nice.

Undecided, Owain meandered his way out of the building, nowhere near the speed with which Leo had taken off.

 

~

 

 **Lucina:** _So, carpool plans?_

Owain munched on an apple and wiped one hand on his pants. He was back in his apartment. Another day done, another round of classes finished. Owain’s textbooks were open on his desk and his laptop was also open to a word document, half an essay complete. In the background, music played. Owain expertly bit into his apple, holding it in his mouth, as he texted Lucina back.

 **Owain:** _Dinner is at six, right? I can come pick you up since you’re on the way._

 **Lucina:** _Okay. What time?_

 **Owain:** _Four-thirty? Traffic might be awful._

 **Lucina:** _Sounds good. See you then._

Owain set his phone down and held his apple, finishing his bite. He had a lot of work to complete, and it wouldn’t get finished if he just sat around. Still, concentrating was difficult when all he could think of was Leo. He was the only person Owain recognized in any of his classes, and Owain didn’t want the opportunity to hang out with _someone_ this summer slip by. It was a bummer that Leo didn’t he didn’t have a phone at the moment.

Maybe one day they’d text the way Owain did with Inigo and Severa. Perhaps Leo would be shy about starting the conversation. Owain would save Leo the agony by starting the conversation himself. However, with no number to text and his other friends and Lucina busy with their own lives, Owain just had to sit around in silence.

Though, Owain thought as he tapped his pencil on his textbook, maybe this was a good thing. If Leo could text him, then perhaps he’d be more distracted. Nodding to himself, Owain got to work, focusing on the future. If he was going somewhere else for dinner, he’d have to finish his work fast.

 

~

 

Lucina also lived in an apartment, but hers was significantly nicer due to the fact she had a roommate so the rent was split in half. Owain pulled up to her apartment, parked, and texted Lucina. Then he waited, adjusting the music and the air conditioning. Lucina appeared a moment later, opening the passenger’s side door, holding a bag.

“Hey, sorry, Cynthia was just asking a question.” She sat down. “You weren’t waiting long, were you?”

“Nah, I wasn’t.” Owain shifted the car out of park. “So, what’s in the bag?”

“Cynthia and I made some cookies yesterday. I figured we should bring some over to Aunt Emmeryn.”

Owain flushed and realized he hadn’t brought anything. “Oops. That’s a good idea.”

Lucina laughed. “It’s fine. We just made so many that we figured this was a good way to pawn the cookies off.”

“Still…” Owain tried to think. Sadly, he knew that with the traffic they couldn’t afford to stop somewhere. He made a mental note for the next time.

The traffic was indeed heavy, especially once they hit the freeway. Owain didn’t mind as he and Lucina talked. Lucina liked talking in person more than over the phone, so it felt good to catch up with each other.  She was studying foreign relations and helped out at her father’s non-profit organization—the Shepherds— on the side.

The Shepherds helped people and families in need, both with basic needs and legal paperwork. At first it had been just a small organization based within one local area, but now with some other nonprofit partners, they had expanded to helping out in other countries too.  Owain had helped out from time to time before, mainly by keeping kids entertained while their family’s paperwork was being handled. He would still sometimes go over on weekends and read stories out to the kids or play with them. With the past semester as busy as it had been, Owain had been preoccupied and hadn’t gone over to help in a while. Perhaps he could find time again this summer.

“Enough about my life. What about yours?” Lucina asked as Owain exited towards the freeway.

“Mine?” Owain tapped the steering wheel. “The semester didn’t start out smoothly. I slept in.” He laughed. “I was almost very screwed for my classes, but a classmate lent me his pen.”

“Saved by the kindness of other people, huh?” Lucina asked. “I hope you returned that pen.”

“I did!” Owain gasped, wanting to put his hand on his heart. He couldn’t due to driving. “He was very shy about it too. Reminds me of Inigo when we were younger.”

Lucina hummed. “Inigo was shy, but then he got into dancing and it eased.”

“He was!” Owain agreed. “Remember that time when Inigo had to talk to the office about a mix up in his schedule?”

“We had to talk him up for a good twenty minutes,” Lucina mused. “He kept insisting it was fine and they’d notice the mess up and fix it without him telling.”

“It was a good thing we forced Inigo to talk.” Owain signalled towards their exit. “Mr. Henderson was a pirate.”

There was a pause and a long sigh. Then:  “Owain. For the last time, Mr. Henderson wasn’t a pirate.”

“Then explain the eyepatch.” Owain stubbornly continued down the familiar banter.

“Medical reasons. It was gone within a day.”

“And the parrot?” Owain pressed.

“First off, that was a cockatoo,” Lucina corrected, “and secondly, it was his pet.”

“Pet parrot for a pirate,” Owain replied.

“Mr. Henderson wasn’t a pirate,” Lucina firmly said and then cut Owain’s retort, “The turn off! Don’t miss it.”

“Oops.” Owain sharply turned right. “Sorry,” he said as they regained control.

Lucina clutched the container with the cookies. “I nearly dropped these.”

“Sorry,” Owain repeated as he navigated through the neighbourhood. Thankfully Lucina didn’t seem too annoyed. They both knew how absent of a driver he could be anyway.

Once off the highway, the passing neighborhoods steadily became nicer and cleaner. The houses were perfectly manicured and the lawns green. Expensive cars were parked on driveways. Soon the houses became bigger and bigger, until they were mansions. Owain knew this area well. He drove until he reached a four way stop and then turned left, then right, and then stopped at their Aunt Emmeryn’s.

Aunt Emmeryn’s home wasn’t the biggest mansion. Owain would argue it was simply a slightly larger house. Their family wasn’t big on throwing their money around, and it made everyone down to earth. Still, Owain knew it was a nice place. He also knew the property was under camera surveillance by virtue of his aunt being the mayor. It was a little strange to think about sometimes, though Owain had largely gotten over it through the years.

Parking along the curb, Owain cut the engine and then got out of the car with Lucina.

Sully answered the door this time, her hair bright red as usual, and her smile sharp and witty. Owain gave a wave and stepped inside along with Lucina.

“Hey, kiddos,” Sully greeted. “Was traffic busy?”

“Sort of,” Lucina said, “but not too bad.”

“Glad to hear.” Sully stepped aside so she wasn’t blocking them in. “Everyone is in the family room. Want me to take your container?” She pointed to Lucina’s tupperware. “I promise I won’t let Stahl eat any.”

Lucina laughed and handed the container over. “Thanks, Sully.”

With the container safely taken, they headed to where Sully told them everyone was. The moment they walked in, Lissa was upon them, her hands gently touching Owain’s face.

“Owain, sweetie, you’re here.” Lissa pulled him into a hug. Owain had to bend down a little to his mother’s height.

“Hello, Mom.” Owain hugged her back. “Where’s Dad?”

“Busy, I’m afraid.” Lissa pulled away. “A tournament is coming up, and he’s helping organize it. He said he’d try to make it for dessert.”

Owain nodded and then turned to Chrom. “Hey, Uncle Chrom.”

“Hey,” Chrom greeted. “How have classes been?”

“Uh, they’ve been going well,” Owain answered vaguely, thinking of how he’d recounted being late on the first day to Lucina in the car. His mother was standing right there, after all.

Uncle Chrom nodded. “I’m glad to hear that.”

Finally Owain got to Aunt Emmeryn. She had been sitting patiently on the couch, a friendly smile etched on her face. Owain walked over and sat down beside her, giving her a hug. Emmeryn returned it.

“Hello, Aunt Emmeryn.” Owain said. Something about his aunt’s demeanor had always made him want to be more formal.

“Hello, Owain,” she said gently. “I’m so glad you could make it. Are you thirsty?”

Owain shook his head. “I’m good for now. How have you been?”

Aunt Emmeryn leaned into the couch. “Very busy. Charities, galas, meetings. I think this is the first night in a while where I sit at home and relax.”

“I saw your speech at the gala,” Lucina said from across the room. “On TV. It was great.”

“Thank you, dear.” Aunt Emmeryn smiled. “Perhaps next time you can join us. I know your father and mother think it would be a great opportunity for you as well.”

Lucina flushed before she coughed politely into her hand. “I mean, if you think I’m ready.”

“You’re more than ready, Luci.” Uncle Chrom patted her shoulder. “Just stay away from Claude Magnus.”

Emmeryn gave a sigh. “Chrom…”

“Em.” Chrom looked at her. “Luci and Owain need to know.”

Owain felt his blood ice over slightly. “Know what?”

“Claude Magnus is nothing more than an associate,” Emmeryn firmly said.

“Yeah, an associate that wants to get big by any means, even if that means blackmail,” Chrom starkly pointed out. “He’s a dangerous man, and while I know you two have been kept out of the radar of our public lives, it is still best to be careful.”

This was a first. Owain swallowed. He and Lucina had never been warned about a specific person before. Of course, growing up they had received a bit more protection and caution from their parents than the average child might have, but now as adults they weren’t too afraid of getting caught up in something political. Both Owain and Lucina could take care of themselves, but the concern was appreciated.

Lucina nodded. “All right, Father.”

“Yeah, right. We’ll keep it in mind.” Owain agreed.

The tension—something Owain hadn’t really noticed before—dropped. Aunt Emmeryn still shot a look at Chrom, and Owain wondered briefly if she’d talk to him about it later. For now, though, he didn’t have a chance to worry. Dinner was announced at that very moment, and they all got up, heading towards the dining room.

This was what the evening was supposed to be, Owain thought as he sat down. Just a regular family dinner. The Claude Magnus bit was, at worst, a passing caution. Shoving it aside, Owain began to dig in, serving himself. Dinner smelled great, and Owain knew the night would be a pleasant one.

 

~

 

When Owain went to drive Lucina back home, he hugged everyone goodbye. Aunt Emmeryn hugged him more tightly than usual and whispered in his ear that she knew he and Lucina would be just fine, which caught Owain by surprise. He suspected that she might have tried to say something more if they had gotten the chance to be alone, but with Uncle Chrom and Owain’s mom so close, she didn’t. The fact that she had said anything at all had caused a sudden knot of worry to bloom in Owain’s stomach, however.

Owain hadn’t known what to say to that, so he’d done his best to ignore the sudden caution and hugged her back even harder in reply. When it came time to say goodbye to Uncle Chrom, he half expected to get some kind of secret message from him as well and was disappointed when he didn’t.

Lucina and Owain got into the car, happily calling “Goodnight!” out the open car window as Owain carefully backed out of the driveway. Lucina wore a pleasant smile, and Owain might have joined her in her jovial mood if not for the pre-dinner exchange suddenly ringing in his head again. They made it to the end of the street before Owain couldn’t help but speak up.

“Hey, what was all that that about Uncle Chrom mentioning blackmail?” he asked.

Lucina’s face dropped suddenly, and Owain was both relieved and bothered to realize the same thoughts must have been playing out in Lucina’s mind as well.

“Ah, we don’t have to talk about it,” he quickly amended.

Lucina shook her head. “No, it’s fine. I was thinking about the same thing. But Father hasn’t said anything to me about it until tonight.”

Owain guessed it wasn’t the sort of thing to be discussed over the phone, so that part wasn’t surprising. But judging from Aunt Emmeryn’s reaction when Uncle Chrom had tried to talk about it tonight, it wasn’t meant to be discussed at all. And yet the fact Aunt Emmeryn had whispered in his ear that she was sure he and Lucina would be fine felt like a cause for concern.

Replaying his uncle’s words in his head, Owain couldn’t decide sure if Uncle Chrom had been warning them about a general scummy feeling or if this Magnus guy had really tried something on Aunt Emmeryn already. The thought made Owain frown harder.

“Should we—” He glanced over to Lucina and then quickly back to the road. “—be worried?”

It took a moment for Lucina to answer, which made Owain feel a bit better. The silence meant she was considering his question carefully.

“I don’t think so,” Lucina eventually said. “I think Aunt Emmeryn wouldn’t have put up as much of a fuss if there was something to worry about yet. Sully too.”

 _Yet_ , she’d said. The thought of a “yet” hanging over their heads wasn’t pleasant, but Owain found himself nodding along. More than any of their parents, he agreed, Sully would have said something if they really needed to be on the lookout at the moment. So they were fine. Definitely.

“We should keep our eye out for any sleazy reporters trying to talk to us or anything,” Lucina said.

“We already do that though.”

Not that they’d had any kind of harassment since they were eight and ten, and Aunt Emmeryn had been running for the mayor for the first time. Sully had pretty much ingrained that hypervigilance into them from the get-go.

Lucina smiled. “Still. Even more so than usual. But.” She chewed on her lower lip in thought. “But I think we’re fine.”

Hearing Lucina’s assurances made him feel better. Dinner had left him in high spirits, but that lingering hug right before they left had reminded Owain of the unpleasant side effects that came from having family in a public office. He loved his aunt and liked the thought of her doing her best for the city, but he wasn’t so keen on the idea that she—or anyone else in his family, for that matter—was in any kind of trouble.

But it was like Lucina had said. If there was real trouble just yet, Uncle Chrom wouldn’t have dropped the issue so easily, even if he had been facing Aunt Emmeryn. So they were probably fine for now.

The car felt a bit tense even as they dropped the subject, each of them engrossed in their thoughts about the comments of blackmail and Claude Magnus. Owain pressed the button to turn the radio on. He caught Lucina tapping her finger against her knee along with the beat of the song that played, so he counted that as a win.

The highway grew longer and darker as they left the city, and distracted as he was, Owain nearly missed his turn off the highway. Again. Lucina teased him about it as they pulled off onto the correct road, and that thankfully broke the tense spell that had fallen over the car.

“Oh, shoot,” Lucina said, sounding vaguely surprised as they drove ever closer to her apartment.

Owain slowed slightly. “What’s wrong?”

“I left my tupperware at the house.”

Owain blinked in remembrance. He didn’t remember Lucina grabbing the package she’d arrived with before they left, and a quick look around the car told him it wasn’t here either. She had definitely left it behind.

“Sorry,” he said. They were already outside Lucina’s place, so there wasn’t any chance of driving back to get her leftovers tonight. It was late enough as is. “You can probably pick it up next time though.”

Family dinners were common enough that Lucina wouldn’t have to wait too long. She probably had other containers sitting around her house somewhere anyway.

She sighed. “You’re right. I suppose I was a little more distracted than I let myself think.” She opened the car door and began edging out, though she looked at Owain one last time before she did. “Thanks again for the ride.”

Owain smiled. “What else is family for?”

With that, Lucina grinned and climbed out of the car. Owain pulled away when he saw her enter her apartment building and drove home.

 

~

 

Owain wouldn’t have said he was lonely, per say.

He had lots of friends. He had more before he decided to move three cities over and attend a university in another town, but that was beside the point. Owain had lots of friends, though not all of them were the type he could hang out with in person for long periods of time. Most of them had not been the type to move three cities over to attend the same university as him either. Inigo and Severa, he was lucky enough to say, were exactly the type to allow Owain to hang out for hours on end when he got tired of hearing his own voice echo around his apartment and wanted some company. And they were exactly the type to have moved three cities over at the same time as Owain.

There were only two of them, however, and sometimes they were busy. Or they were free but only when Owain was busy. Or none of them were busy, but it was late and Owain wished they lived closer because he didn’t want to leave his apartment. Or any number of things, really. Sometimes they just couldn’t meet, even when Owain really wanted to.

(That might have explained why Owain was a little more eager than usual for class to roll around some days. He didn’t know any of his apartment neighbors, and the need for social interaction was sometimes very real. Plus there was the potential of making new friends in class like Leo. Owain had yet to connect with anyone else in any of his classes. Campus was large, everyone was very busy, and not many strangers seemed to like it when Owain stopped to talk when they were both in line for coffee. But he saw Leo three times a week, and they had already spoken several times before. Leo had even given him a nickname. The potential for Owain to make a friend he actually saw outside of class was real.

Owain wasn’t technically lonely, per say. He had friends. And family. And he had himself, which was the most dependable of them all.

Sometimes he thought it just would have been nice if he could add one or two more people into the mix, that was all. Someone who didn’t live a long car ride away, who was sometimes free at the same times as Owain.)

Thankfully, though, sometimes Severa, Inigo, and Owain’s schedules aligned. After Political History where Leo had claimed he had a “very important thing” he needed to be doing on Wednesday, so no, he really couldn’t meet Owain in the mornings for breakfast “at all”—which Owain totally respected—and after a very dull afternoon class, Owain made his way over to Inigo’s apartment and flopped himself all over his friend’s couch.

“So are you dying yet?” he asked.

Inigo laid sprawled across the floor and moaned. His laptop sat on his chest, and Owain could see YouTube pulled up and the word “ballet” in the search engine.  

“Define dying.”

Owain had the question memorized by now. “Has it hit your body yet that you are now facing the reality of constant work and the ever looming stress of performing in front of an audience that scrutinizes your every move full time for the next few months?”

“Oh, that.” Inigo waved his hand in the air and then flopped it back down. “I’m already dead.”

“Cool. I’ll get my new necromantic spellbook out and attempt to save you sometime next week. I can probably pencil you in on Thursday.”

“You’re a truly a dependable friend,” Inigo said flatly.

“I try.”

There was a moment of silence, so Owain flopped off the couch and crawled over to Inigo. Inigo didn’t move, not even when Owain took his computer and gently placed it aside, but he did make a very ugly noise when Owain flopped over his stomach.

“Why are you laying on me?” Inigo whined.

“I’m tired.”

“So am I, but I’m doing stuff.”

Despite his complaints, Inigo did not push Owain away from him particularly hard.

“You’re not even working on anything,” Owain pointed out.

Inigo pouted. “But I could be.”

His pout dropped as quickly as it came. The carpet itched uncomfortably at Owain’s forearms, so he rolled off Inigo and onto his side. They looked at each other.

After a beat, Inigo confessed, “I’m full of anxiety at the thought of auditioning again next week.”

“You always are,” Owain said. “Then it goes away as soon as you’re on stage.”

“Not helpful.”

That was true, so Owain pushed himself up on his forearms to look at Inigo’s face haloed by his messy hair and said, “You are the best dancer this world has ever seen, and you are going to crush these auditions like you always do. And if those places are foolish enough that they don’t hire you, I’ll drop out of school to write a production where you play every part.”

Inigo’s small smile had been growing with every word. “I can’t play _every_ part,” he said.

“I believe in you,” Owain said. “You’re talented enough to do it. And I know those critics praised you well enough recently for it too.”

Their relationship had consisted of a lot of teasing and literal hair pulling when they had been younger. Now, it still consisted mostly of those things, but the teasing was less malicious and there were quiet moments like this between them. Owain hadn’t expected the change when he’d been younger, but he quite liked it now.

Inigo breathed out through his nose.

“Thanks,” he said. “You’re right. It’s going to be fine.”

It sounded like he was trying to convince himself more that Owain, but he at least sounded a little less jittery than before. Owain picked up Inigo’s laptop and set it on his stomach, opening a new tab.

“Want to watch Netflix?” he asked.

“Not if we’re going to watch boring _How It’s Made_ videos,” Inigo said, but he turned his head to watch the screen anyway.

 _How It’s Made_ could definitely be mind-numbing, Owain agreed, but it was just the right kind of simultaneously numbing and engrossing that he thought they needed. He clicked on the first video that popped up and felt Inigo breathe against his shoulder.

Sometimes it was just nice to hang around a friend and not worry about anything in particular, he thought.

 

~

 

Ever since his first day of classes and sleeping in late, Owain had made a conscious—and sometimes painful—effort to wake up early for his classes and arrive to the university early. While the first week had been a hassle, Owain liked to think he had the hang of it now. Arriving early on campus meant he could take time to appreciate the beauty of the quiet morning. Or, like he was doing at the moment, buy a coffee.

Owain tried to not make a habit of buying drinks. For one, they were expensive and he had other things to save his money for and for another, the lines were always long. But occasional indulgences didn’t hurt.

He managed to beat the rush, snag a place in line, and buy his drink before the crowd arrived. Slipping out of line, Owain was about to stuff his wallet back into his bag when he caught the sight of Leo. He was reading a book, so he didn’t spot Owain, but Owain carefully walked over. What luck! Sure, today was a day they didn’t share their one and only class, but running into him outside of class was a stroke of luck that Owain wasn’t going to pass. He still had a good half an hour before his class.

“Hey, Leo!” Owain greeted, making sure he was standing far enough away so no one thought he was going to budge, but close enough that it was clear he was talking to Leo.

Leo didn’t look up from his book. Owain didn’t mind. Perhaps Leo was shy that Owain had practically nudged himself into the line.

“It’s pretty crowded in here,” Owain continued. “I was lucky to come before all these people.”

“Uh-huh.” Leo muttered and flipped a page.

“If you keep reading, you won’t know what to get,” Owain warned. Laurent had done that once. It was something they still teased him about. “Like the specials and everything.”

Leo looked up at the board for two seconds and then looked back at his book. Owain remembered Laurent also doing that. He held his laugh by sipping his drink.

“Say, I got some time before my next class. We could sit here for a bit.” Owain offered. He couldn’t help but smile. He had only hung out with Leo in class. This was a small step up.

“I have a group session,” Leo intoned, flipping his book. “In the Thornton Library.”

Oh. So that's why he was still reading. He was cramming to make sure he was prepared for his study session. Owain wanted to offer his assistance, but he was sure whatever Leo was studying it was for a class that would go over his head.

“Thornton Library,” Owain repeated, “That’s on the other side of campus. Why didn’t you just go to the coffee shop there?”

“I was dropped off here.” Leo flipped the page again before he paused. “Actually, could you do a favour for me?”

Owain nearly dropped his drink. A favour. Leo was asking a favour of him? A warm fluttering filled Owain’s heart as he felt like their friendship had grown just a little bit. It reminded him of that one Christmas special Inigo always cried at when they were kids, about the heart growing a size up. Only this time it was his friendship with Leo.

“Yes?” Owain asked.

“Someone in my study group was mentioning these galaxy ink pens. They’re supposed to have very dark ink and write very smoothly. I was wondering if you knew where to purchase those.”

Leo didn’t outright say it, but Owain picked it up. He wanted a set of those pens. Owain hadn’t heard of them before, but then again, he had grown out of obsessing over stationary. New things came around. Owain did a quick mental map of the shops he knew. A few were closer to Ylisstol, but Owain never minded trips back.

“You need not say anything more!” Owain grinned, “I can definitely find you some of those pens.”

Leo gave the smallest of smiles. “Thanks, Odin.”

Owain smiled at his nickname and checked his time. As nice as it would be to stand around and talk with Leo, he had a task to complete. Giving a goodbye, Owain raced off, mind spinning. He had class, so he’d have to wait before starting his task. It was tempting to skip, but he couldn’t do that. Heading to his lecture theater early, Owain sat down and pulled his phone out. There was a small local stationary store he used to go to in Ylisstol. Hopefully the owner was the same. Owain had drama camp with his kid when they were younger. Surely he wasn’t forgotten. Dialing the number, Owain held his phone to his ear.

 

~

 

It wasn’t until Owain was out of class, on his way to purchase the pens for Leo when he was hit with a realization. Leo hadn’t told him how to contact him when he was done. He still didn’t have a phone and without a number, Owain had no way of contacting him. Of course, class was the obvious answer, but that was not only ever other day. Owain bit his lip and wondered if Leo was still in the Thornton Library, but then he decided not to go. Firstly, the library was massive, spanning a good seven floors with many nooks and crannies. Next, even if Owain found Leo, he was studying. Owain remembered when he had interrupted Severa while studying. He had the scars—a faint line on his arm. It _counted._

Of course, Owain didn’t expect Leo to attack him like Severa had, but he seemed the kind to be upset when interrupted. Owain could feel it. So, Owain made a note to bring the pens to their next class and hopped onto the bus.

~

In the end, the store Owain tried out first didn’t have the pens, but the owner—Phillip, whose son had definitely been in drama camp with Owain—called a contact in another shop who gave an address to a shop just three blocks down who knew about the pens. So, adjusting his bag and giving thanks to Phillip, Owain walked down the street, humming to himself. The weather was hot, and Owain was feeling the sun’s rays on his body, soaking into his shirt. Perhaps he should have worn a lighter shirt. Owain sighed, but kept moving.

The shop he was lead to was small, easily missed. It was nestled between a tea shop and a specialty watch store. Owain had to backtrack to the entrance. When he entered, the door chimed. Inside the place smelt like ink, paper, and paint. Everything was made of wood, down to the floors. The shelves had things on them, but somehow Owain couldn’t tell what anything was. It felt empty and full all at the same time. Owain carefully stepped in.

“Hello?” he called out.

Someone poked their head from around the corner. Her hair was a startling shade of green and was done up in a loose bun, a hair pin made of gold and rubies poking out. Her clothes were neat, but Owain could see paint on her hands. She looked old and young at the same time.

“Hello?” There was an accent to her voice Owain couldn’t place. “May I help you?”

“Uh, yeah.” Owain quickly walked to the counter and dug around in his bag for the note. “I’m Owain. Phillip from Artistic Creations sent me? I am looking for galaxy pens. Phillip phoned around and asked many shops, but they don’t have them and I was hoping…”

“Right here.” The woman gently cut him off, pointing to a shelf behind Owain, “You can buy individual pens, a premade set, or you can make a set yourself. Prices are listed on the sheet.”

“Thank you.” Owain turned around.

There, on the shelf that Owain swore was empty before were the pens. They were beautiful. The covers marbled and the styles varying between clicking and caps. Owain scanned the prices and while they were more than he’d ever buy for himself, this wasn’t for himself. This was for Leo. Owain bit his lip and selected mainly blue and black inks. He wasn’t sure what colours Leo wanted. Something he should have asked before bolting off. Owain picked six, making a set and went to the counter.

Instead of the woman with the pin in her hair, there was another woman at the till. Owain blinked, not hearing anyone leave or come in, but he wasn’t going to say it. This girl had red hair tied in a firm ponytail. When she scanned the items, her gaze flickered between him and the pens.

“Is that everything for you?” she asked.

“Yes.” Owain dug for his wallet.

She then told him the price. Owain almost dropped his wallet. Wasn’t that… more than the sign had said? He turned around to check, but there it was, written on the sign. Owain was sure the number was smaller when he last looked… He forfeited the money regardless.

“Pleasure doing business with you,” the woman chirped. “Come back again.”

Owain took the bag from her and exit the shop. He walked a bit down the street before realizing he had gone the wrong way. He turned and walked back. As he walked towards his bus stop, Owain didn’t find the shop again.

 

~

 

“Here you go.” Owain plopped down next to Leo. “I found the pens.” Was it just Owain, or did Leo nearly drop his tablet? Owain flushed with pride. “I mean, we didn’t have numbers to exchange and I wasn’t sure what colours you wanted, but I bought you a set.” He paused. “I hope it is fine?”

Leo didn’t say as he carefully opened the bag. Sure enough, written on the case that the pens came in was cursive reading “Galaxy Pens” in gold. Owain waited a moment, trying to not burst with pride at a job well done.

“That was… quick…”

“I know.” Owain grinned. “But I know this one shop owner in a store I used to go to, who knew this one guy who phoned this other guy, and then I got directions to the store…”

Owain babbled on, not stopping until the professor arrived. As he talked, Leo just sat there, touching the pen case, staring at it. When class started, Leo picked one of the pens up and pulled a pad of paper instead of his tablet and wrote the notes down. Owain felt like he was going to burst with happiness.

 

~

 

It may have just been Owain’s imagination, but he thought he caught Leo looking at him more throughout the lecture than he had before. And after, when the students practically stampeded to get out the doors, he thought Leo packed up his bag a little slower than usual too, lingering ever so slightly as Owain swiped the rest of his own notes into his backpack and jumped to his feet to follow Leo out. He expected Leo to have already begun his normal rush through the crowd by the time he stood up and was momentarily stunned to see Leo still standing next to his chair, looking as though he’d been waiting on Owain.

Owain quickly shrugged off the surprise. With a lack of anything else to say, he asked,  “What’d you think of class? We have our first test in a few weeks, right? It kind of feels like the semester’s flying by, huh?”

Leo tilted his head in an unreadable gesture and took a few steps closer to Owain. Even though Leo usually exited on the other end of the row—the longer end, to be considerate of squeezing past Owain, he’d normally assumed—Owain got the hint. He backed up so Leo could walk out of the row and into the flow of students.

“It’s fine,” Leo said as he brushed past. “I’m not particularly worried.”

Instead of running up the stairs like Owain expected, Leo seemed to wait until Owain fell into step beside him before they both made their way out of the classroom. Owain frowned.

“Don’t you have to run to class?” he asked.

“Yes,” Leo said. “But it can wait a moment. Are you always so resourceful?”

It took a moment for Owain to realize he was talking about the pens he’d given Leo earlier.

Owain attempted to shrug casually. “I suppose.”

Part of him wanted to brag a bit, and undoubtedly he would have if he were talking to someone like Inigo or Severa, but something about Leo made him want to be a bit more humble than usual. Still, he peeked at Leo with a sideways glance to see what he thought.

“Noted,” Leo said. He looked… considering.

Okay. Owain could work with that.

“What’s up?” he said as they entered into the hallway. This was usually the part where Leo ran off on his own. “Something else you needed?”

“Not particularly,” Leo said. “I’m simply…” He paused again. “Revising some things.”

“Oh, alright. If you need to study later, the offer still stands.”

 Leo got a look on his face that Owain was plenty familiar with. It was a look Owain still couldn’t quite read, but it was a one Leo wore often when talking to Owain. Owain assumed it was a thoughtful one.

 Seemingly randomly, Leo asked, “What do you do for fun?”

 The question caught Owain off guard, but he quickly recovered.

 “A lot of things!” he said. A multitude of hobbies flashed through his mind, and if asked later, Owain may have admitted to slurring his words together a bit to get them all out at once. “I used to have a D&D group with some friends back home, but we’ve had to put that hold until the holidays because we all live so far apart now. But I still keep my character sheets and journals up to date even when we’re not playing! I occasionally DM, so I’m always ready to go with a new campaign as necessary. Oh, but you probably mean what I’d be doing after class. Do you know what LARPing—”

 “Actually, now that you mention it, I will be late if I don’t hurry,” Leo said hastily. He was gone in a flash.

 Owain shrugged to himself and went on his way. Leo rushing off was the one thing he wasn’t surprised about today.

 

~

 

The next time Owain saw Leo, he looked a little less awed at Owain’s presence. Owain was still walking on sunshine and feeling pretty accomplished—both about the pen thing and the fact he’d kicked Severa’s butt in a game of online chess she’d challenged him to the night before, and so he didn’t have to listen to her boast about being the top chess champion anymore—so he didn’t mind so much. He noted that Leo was still using one of the Owain’s pens rather than his tablet to take notes, so it was still a win either way.

Leo greeted him with a reserved nod. “Odin.”

“Greetings, Revered One!” Owain said loudly as he sat down. “Have the golden waves of yonder morn nestled themselves in thine eye or do the spirits of sleep taunt you yet?”

Leo stared. “Excuse me?”

Owain coughed. Maybe Severa had been right and that opening was a bit too strong.

“You know, because we were talking about LARPing yesterday?” Owain reminded him.

Leo’s stiff confusion melted away slightly with realization, but it still looked like he was leaning away from Owain slightly.

“Uh-huh.” He glanced toward the front of the auditorium, but the professor was still shuffling papers at the podium and wasn’t yet ready to begin.

Owain internally flailed. He didn’t want to lose the step up he thought he’d gained with Leo for getting those pens.

Surprisingly, it was Leo who spoke up again while Owain was still scrambling to think of something to say.

“Say,” he said, flipping to a different page in his notebook. “You seem quite resourceful. Do you know where I might get this book?”

He tilted his notebook towards Owain. Owain peered over to get a better look. Leo’s finger rested next to one title in what appeared to be a long list of books.

“Of course! Anything you require, I will scour the ends of the earth to—” Owain caught sight of the title. “Oh.”

Leo didn’t seem to notice Owain’s disappointed sound. If he were anyone else, Owain might have accused Leo’s explanations for why he was looking for the book akin to rambling.

“It’s related to my astronomy class, you see, but it’s one of the optional texts. It’s not necessary, per say, and I don’t believe in its legitimacy at all, but the mythology regarding the intersection of the divine and the stars has always been somewhat interesting—”

“I have that book,” Owain said.

Leo stared at him. It felt like Leo did that a lot.

“Excuse me?” he said.

Owain placed his finger next to Leo’s on the list just to make sure they were both referring to the right title.

“I have this book,” he repeated. “It was a birthday gift. I think it’s in my apartment somewhere.”

 “How could you…” Leo shook his head. “This book had a quite limited run, and it was not popular even upon the initial release. It’s not even sold electronically. Are you sure this is the same one you own?”

“Yeah,” Owain said. He was a little disappointed that he didn’t have to go hunting for this errand, but if it helped out a friend, he didn’t _particularly_ mind that he had the book on hand already. It wasn’t like Owain was really attached to it. Mentally, he admitted to himself that it might have been a little more fun if he’d had to search a bit more for it. Owain did love a challenge.

“Do you want to borrow it?” he asked. “It was a birthday gift, but to be honest, I don’t really care about it that much.”

Inigo had been quite proud of himself for that gift, despite the fact Owain had never been too much for reading other people’s stories when he could come up with his own. He remembered something about Inigo just happening to stumble upon the author of a “book of weird stories like yours” doing a table signing at the bookstore in the mall while Inigo was passing through. Owain was pretty sure Inigo had taken pity on the guy because the line for the signing had been totally empty, and Inigo had probably considered it a way to get Owain’s birthday present out of the way at the same time.

Owain had shoved his slice of cake into Inigo’s hair in retaliation for the “weird stories” comment. That had been two birthdays ago. The book had served as a trusty paperweight to smooth out all the loose notes Owain had crumpled at the bottom of his bag ever since.

“Would you mind?” Leo asked. His words were polite, but his voice was eager. “I promise to take care of it and return it in a timely manner.”

Owain waved him off. He had no doubt that Leo was the kind of guy who treated books like they were his own children. Though, judging from the corners of his notebook, Leo also seemed like the kind of guy who dogeared the pages. Not that Owain really minded either way.

“Of course,” he said, proud of the satisfied look that passed over Leo’s face at the agreement. “I can bring it tomorrow, if you really need it?”

It was an invitation Leo rejected with a shake of his head. “No, that’s alright. Friday would be fine. But I would appreciate it.”

“No problem. I’ll bring it then.”

The lights in the auditorium began to dim, and Owain turned to face the front, pen at the ready. He knew by now how fast the teacher liked to speak.

Out of the corner of his eye, however, he could see Leo looking at him. It went on long enough that Owain had to turn his head to look back.

“What?” he whispered as the slideshow went up on screen. He glanced at the screen and began scribbling away at the opening notes, keeping on eye on Leo as he waited for a response.

After a beat, Leo shook his head.

“Nothing,” Leo said, a strange tone in his voice. “I just…”

A pause passed between them. It was long enough that Owain didn’t think Leo was going to continue. Owain was nearly finished with the first slide of notes when he did.

“I don’t quite know what to make of you, to be honest,” Leo said quietly.

That was a phrase Owain had heard all too often before. He grinned back at Leo with lots of teeth.

“My mom says the same thing all the time,” he said.

Surprisingly, Leo snickered. It was a pretty good sound, Owain thought. He hadn’t realized he’d never heard Leo laugh before until now. Then he became quickly preoccupied with not falling behind as the professor switched to a new slide of notes.

 

~

 

Owain spent the better half of his night searching for the book instead of doing homework. It turned out that his room was a bit messier than he thought it was. He upheaved bookshelves, threw clothes out of his closet, and searched every nook and cranny he could think of. However, the searching paid off when Owain found the book at the bottom of a cardboard box, one he hadn’t unpacked since he had moved into his new apartment. The book smelled a bit like stale cardboard.

Quickly, he flipped through to make sure all the pages were intact then he carefully put the book into his bag. He wasn’t seeing Leo until Friday, but if he didn’t cart it around early he’d forget. Sure, he bag was a bit heavier when he went to classes on Thursday, but it was worth it when Friday rolled around and Owain could confidently walk towards the class.

Leo was already there, notebook out. Owain walked briskly over and sat down beside Leo in his usual spot.

“Greetings, Leo, I have procured the book you wish to borrow.” Owain kept his words less flashy. He remembered what happened the last time. Severa was always right.

He then dug into his bag and pulled the book out, handing it to Leo. Leo stared at the cover, his hand trailing over the cover as he opened it gingerly. Owain waited, trying to not bounce with excitement. Instead he pulled his materials out of his bag and began to set up for class.

“Thank you, Odin,” Leo suddenly said, voice rather soft before he flushed a touch, just barely. “My apologies, I was just enthralled for a moment.” Leo then opened his bag and gently put the book inside. “I’ll take good care of it, and I’ll return it in a timely manner.”

Owain once again waved his hand dismissively. “No need to worry. Take your time reading it.”

Leo opened his mouth, possibly to politely refute Owain’s offer, but the lecture hall dimmed and their professor arrived at the front. Owain shot a reassuring smile and turned his attention to the lecture. Soon the time passed as notes were written and his hand cramped. When the lights came back on, Owain blinked rapidly, adjusting to the change in light, and slowly packed up. When he finished, Leo was once again standing by, waiting for him. Owain bolted up, giving a small grin.

“So, off to your next class?” Owain asked, going with a general conversation starter.

“Yes, calculus,” Leo replied shortly, but it was enough.

Owain perked up. This was one of the few times Leo had volunteered information willingly about himself. Owain wasn’t able to talk to Leo about calculus in depth, but he wasn’t going to let this opportunity slide.

“Sounds interesting,” Owain truthfully said. While he wasn’t the best at math, he appreciated it. “I’m not the best with math and strategies, but I can play a mean game of chess.”

At this Leo’s eyes widened ever so slightly and he adjusted his bag. “You play chess?”

Owain knew that bragging wasn’t the best, but he hadn’t been able to gloat his victory over Severa to anyone else but her and Inigo. “Yes, in fact, I played an online game of chess with a friend recently. I beat her.” He wildly grinned.

Leo hummed and began to walk out of the lecture theater. Owain took it as an invite to follow. He slung his bag half heartedly over his shoulder and followed out.

“I enjoy playing chess as well,” Leo told Owain as they walked out of the building, heading outside.

“You do?” Owain asked, “Perhaps we can play against each other some time?”

Leo didn’t respond, but Owain didn’t mind. It was merely a passing thought. They kept walking and soon they came to the part where Owain knew Leo had to go left for his class and Owain had no business following Leo. He turned to go right, but Leo suddenly stopped him.

“Hey, Odin.”

Owain paused and turned around, “Yes?”

“Thank you again for the book,” Leo said.

Owain smiled. “I hope you enjoy reading it.”

Leo gave a small nod and then turned completely, walking to his calculus. Owain stood for a moment, staring at Leo, smiling to himself before he turned and walked in the opposite direction, his smile not leaving his face.

 

~

 

Owain spent his weekend tidying up and cleaning his apartment. The recent stint with Leo requesting a book and Owain having to dig around for eons to find it had inspired him to organize. Perhaps next time, if Leo somehow wanted another book that Owain had miraculously lying around, he’d be able to assist Leo once again. Smiling to himself, Owain dusted off a shelf carefully before rearranging his books alphabetically by author, then by genre.

Sure, he didn’t have a ton of books—mainly manuals and DIY books—but it was something. Stepping back, Owain smiled and then moved on to organizing the rest of his things.

Everything with Leo felt like it was going well, heading somewhere. Perhaps towards a beautiful friendship. Owain hoped so. He wanted to learn more about Leo, about his hobbies and interests. Leo was interesting, and the more time Owain spent with him, the more he wanted to know.

Folding his clothes properly, Owain stuffed them neatly into his dresser and smiled once again. Sitting on top of his dresser was his old chess set, a gift from Lucina many years ago. It had been one of the few expensive gifts he’d received. The white pieces were made of marble and the black pieces made from the darkest of woods, polished until it shone. The board was also made of the same material and was quite heavy. Owain knew that there was a possibility that he’d never get to play a game with Leo, but it was never bad to hope, right?

 

~

 

Owain had done it.

He’d managed the impossible.

“Are you feeling alright?” Leo asked warily, eyeing Owain’s manic expression from across the table. “We can—”

“No!” Owain said quickly. “No, I’m alright! Let us commence with studying!”

After all the offers Owain had made, Leo had finally accepted, citing the upcoming test a good reason to review. Owain got the feeling there was a bit more to it than that, but he wasn’t going to question it. He just liked hanging out with Leo outside of class.

It had been a while since he’d seen Inigo or Severa either. Owain made a mental note to text them soon.

Leo nodded. “Alright. Then is there anything in particular that you want to start with first?”

“The most recent stuff is probably what I’m least familiar with.” Owain shrugged. “But this is technically a history class, right? So working chronologically might be our best bet.”

Thankfully the professor wasn’t the cruel type, and she taught the class more or less chronologically already. There were a few outlier facts that Owain would have to keep an eye out for as they went along, but if it was simple memorization and extrapolation, he thought the first exam wouldn’t be too difficult. They still had a few days to prepare anyway.

“That makes sense,” Leo agreed. He reached into his bag and pulled out a bundle of notecards. “I went through the trouble of preparing flashcards with that thought in mind.”

“Woah, really?” Owain stared. It was a thick stack. “Aw, if I’d known you were going to do that, I would have offered to do something else too.”

Leo looked the tiniest bit pleased, but he shook his head at Owain’s offer. “No need. If we’re studying together, there’s no reason we can’t share and quiz each other as we go along.” He paused and then added, “However, I can send photos of these if you need something to base your own flashcards off later.”

Owain flipped over the first card. Leo’s handwriting was crisp and neat, and it looked like he included only the important facts on the little cards.

“I might take you up on that later,” Owain said with a smile.

Leo sent a small smile of his own back in return.

“Then, shall we begin?”

They started off with a general review, reading lecture notes back and forth to each other to refresh their memories of older lectures. Leo eyed the messy scrawl and copious doodles in Owain’s own notebook at first, but after Owain reminded Leo that “No, I know this guy was involved in that scandal too because I put a green star by both,” Leo commented on there being a “method to the madness” and looked less wary. At first Leo read off his computer, but as they got to more recent lectures, he pulled out his notebook and read from that instead, Owain noted.

It only took twenty or so minutes to review. Leo was a diligent student, and he didn’t let Owain go off on tangents like he was wont to do. After the first two or three times of Leo clearing his throat and looking pointedly at the stack of notecards they had yet to go through, Owain sheepishly got the picture.

There were one or two moments were Owain wondered if Leo wanted to leave or regretted coming to the library to study, given the way he kept glancing at his watch. But Owain reminded himself that it had been Leo who had taken him up on his offer to study, and it was Leo who bluntly said he was fine with studying together when Owain offered to let him go. So Owain left things as they were.

Just as they were going to switch over to the flashcards, however, Owain’s phone buzzed with an incoming call. He didn’t think twice about answering. When Leo saw he had taken a call, he went to fiddle with something in his bag.

Owain turned slightly away from the table as he answered his phone. “Mom?”

 _“Owain!”_ His mother’s cheery voice came in loud and clear through the line. _“I was just calling to check up on you. Have you eaten dinner yet?”_

Owain spared Leo a glance, but he didn’t seem to be paying attention.

“Not yet,” Owain said. “But, actually, I’m studying with a classmate right now, so…”

_“Oh, I won’t keep you long then. I just wanted to check up on you and see if your day had gone well.”_

Something about her voice gave Owain pause. It wasn’t unusual for his mother to call every few days to “check up on him.” What was unusual was the thin note of stress he could hear in her voice. He doubted someone less familiar with his mouth would have noticed.

“Yeah, it’s been good,” he said. “Are _you_ feeling alright?”

_“Of course!”_

After a moment of silence between both of them, Owain’s mother relented. She sighed.

 _“Alright, I’m a little stressed,”_ she admitted. _“There have just been a few… things between your aunt and uncle.”_

“Things?” Owain repeated. Aware that Leo was right there, he lowered his voice. “Is it about… you know?”

 _“It’s nothing to worry about,”_ his mother said. _“It’s just general stress stuff. And you know I don’t like it when your father is away for work. Between that and you being out of the house now…”_

She trailed off meaningfully. Owain winced.

“I can visit you this weekend,” he offered.

 _“Oh, that’s so sweet! I look forward to it!”_ The fact she didn’t even attempt to turn him down let Owain know he’d walked right into her trap. Not that Owain ever minded visiting his family. _“Anyway, I’ll let you get back to studying now. Have fun!”_

“Talk to you later.” He hung up.

Owain turned back to the table to see Leo looking at him curiously.

“Is everything alright?” Leo asked. He must have heard Owain lower his voice and got concerned.

“Oh, yeah,” Owain said, tossing his phone back in a deeper pocket of his backpack so it wouldn’t bother them if it rang again. “Sorry, that was just my mom. She gets lonely, you know? But we can get back to studying. Sorry for the call.”

After a brief pause, Leo nodded like he understood. He held out half of the stack of flashcards to Owain.

“We can start with these,” he said as Owain took them.

“Sounds good,” Owain agreed. He thought about his mother’s reminder of dinner. “Do you have something else going on later tonight?” When Leo glanced at him, he added, “Since you keep checking your watch.”

Leo shook his head. “Just—” He cut himself off, looking at Owain with uncertainty. “Niles,” Leo concluded. “I told him to pick me up in about another hour.”

Clearly Leo had been about to say something else, but Owain let it go. Everyone was entitled to their cool, mysterious secrets. He tried to imagine what someone with the name “Niles” looked like, and then when he failed to come up with someone who looked suitably interesting enough, he resigned himself to focusing on the fact they only had about another hour to study.

Considering they were mostly using flashcards, that would be plenty of time, Owain decided. He had other homework to get to tonight anyway.

“Cars are always easier than taking the bus,” Owain commented.

Leo didn’t look visibly relieved, but Owain got the sense he was happy Owain didn’t ask too many questions anyway.

“Truly,” Leo agreed. He looked at the notecard in his hand. “Now, let’s start. These two political parties first began in…”

True to his word, after an hour and a half and going through all their notes thus far, Leo concluded their study session by closing his notebook and sighing, “I think that’s enough for now.”

Owain rubbed at the soreness in his neck. He’d been bent over for too long. “Yeah, here seems like a good stopping place.”

He was pretty sure he’d surprised both himself and Leo with the amount of facts he’d managed to remember after their very brief review. He’d need to study once or twice more before the test, but his confidence had skyrocketed over the past hour. Leo wasn’t a study slouch either. Owain wasn’t sure Leo had gotten a single fact wrong over their entire study session. There had been one or two times he’d stayed silent and declined to answer, but he’d never explicitly been _wrong_. Unless the upcoming exam was nowhere near what they expected, Owain felt pretty sure they were going to blow it out of the water.

He told Leo as much as they both packed up to go.

“Thanks for studying with me,” Owain said, shoving the last of his notes into his backpack. “I’m pretty sure this exam is going to be a no brainer.”

Leo pulled his messenger bag over his shoulder but waited for Owain to pick up his backpack before he began walking towards the exit. “I feel the same way. I looked at the online reviews for this class before choosing it. I don’t think the exam will be that difficult.”

“She said it would be multiple choice, right?” Owain asked.

“Multiple choice _and_ three short answer questions at the end,” Leo said. He shot Owain a significant look. “I don’t believe those should give either of us trouble, however.”

They made it to the exit sooner than Owain expected. He was glad to have finally spent time with Leo outside of class for the first time, but the afternoon was warm and the day had been long. It was time to go home. Owain had to squint in the direction of the bus stop to see if he felt like walking home or not.

There was nobody at the bus stop, which Owain took to mean the bus had already picked all of its passengers up. He could have waited another five minutes for the next one, but Owain mentally shrugged and resigned himself to walking home instead. It wasn’t that hot yet. He looked over to say goodbye to Leo only to see the blond had already begun walking across the parking lot without a word.

Leo approached a rather nice looking black car and opened the passenger side door. It was then Owain remembered that Leo was being driven home.

They were too far away from each other to say a proper goodbye, but Owain shouted “See ya!” across the parking lot and waved. He was pretty sure Leo turned and waved back. The person in the driver’s seat—Niles—may have turned to look at Owain as well, given the movement Owain thought he saw in the dark window, but it was hard to be sure.

When Leo climbed into the passenger seat, Owain turned in the direction of his apartment and began his trek home, feeling good about the upcoming test and Leo.

 

~

 

The morning of their first exam, Owain was surprised to find that he had arrived to class first.

Owain frowned as he sat in his seat. Normally Leo was always there before him, especially since Owain had a tendency to arrive only a few moments before the start of lecture. To be a late on the day of their first exam felt especially strange. He wondered if Leo had gotten sick or something.

Only a moment later, however, Leo sat down beside him in his usual seat.

“Oh, hey,” Owain greeted him with mild surprise. “Aren’t you supposed to be here before me?”

“Ah, I was running a bit late this morning,” Leo said. “I was looking a few things up.”

Probably for their test, Owain thought. Or for another class that they didn’t share.

“Say, Odin,” Leo added as Owain twirled his pen between his fingers and waited for class to start. “You were on your phone with your mother the other day, right? I don’t think you’ve ever told me about her.”

Owain straightened in his seat and caught his pen in his hand, already excited. He hadn’t realized he’d never told Leo about his family before.

“My mother is a glorious patron of the healing arts,” Owain gushed. “And my father is the guardian deity of many fortunate souls in need of protection!”

Leo looked at him flatly.

Owain coughed. “My mom’s a doctor, and my dad works in security.”

Now Leo nodded in understanding.

“I see,” he said. “So your parents work locally then?”

Owain held his palm horizontally to the table and shook it in a “so-so” motion. “Mom works a few cities over at her own private practice. My dad technically works for a few smaller businesses, but he mainly travels up north to help out my uncle every few weeks.”

Uncle Basilio wasn’t technically related to Owain by blood, but he and Owain’s father had worked together for so long that it was hard not to think of him that way.

Owain’s father also owned a training hall, technically. Owain still thought of it as his father’s in his head, but with his father more involved in security work and others taking care of it more and more as the years went on, it didn’t seem worth mentioning.

“That’s interesting,” Leo said. “And they share the same last name as you?”

Owain wasn’t sure what he had done to imply that they _didn’t_ share the same family name, but then the lights were dimming and a familiar slideshow was being projected on the screen. He readied his pen.

“Yeah,” he whispered to Leo. “What about your parents?”

But Leo shook his head and gestured with his pen towards the front of the classroom, so Owain let the subject of families drop and focused on taking notes.

 

~

 

The test flew by, and Owain left the lecture hall feeling good about his efforts. Leo had left before him though, being the first person to finish writing and hand the test in. Owain had stared along with the rest of their class as Leo walked up to the front to hand it in. As Leo walked back to retrieve his things, Owain swore he sent a smile his way. It was a lovely gesture, and Owain felt confidence surge as he finished up the multiple choice before he moved to the short answer.

Leaving the class early meant Owain had some time to kill before his next class. Adjusting his bag, Owain wondered what he should do. There wasn’t enough time to go to the gym on campus, and there wasn’t enough time for him to get something proper to eat. Instead Owain decided to buy a cup of coffee and perhaps a muffin in celebration.

Heading to the coffee shop attached to the campus store, Owain was surprised to see it relatively quiet. Making his way to the counter, Owain made his purchase, going with a blueberry muffin. Then he turned to stand off the side for his drink when he spotted Leo sitting in the corner, a small book in hand. Leo’s gaze however, was firmly fixed on him.

Snapping the book shut, Leo gave Owain an expectant look. Owain’s heart fluttered. He grabbed his coffee immediately after the barista set it down and walked over to Leo.

“You finally finished,” Leo casually said. “I was beginning to grow bored of waiting.”

Owain flushed, pleased. Leo had waited for him. How Leo knew he’d come to the coffee shop was a question that perked in his mind. Owain sat down anyways.

“How did you know I’d come here?” Owain asked.

“You’re always coming into class with a cup of coffee from here,” Leo answered. “I just guessed you’d come here after the exam.”

Owain flushed. Perhaps his habits were a bit too obvious. Still, he didn’t care. Leo had been taking surprising initiative to hang out, and Owain couldn’t help feeling pleased by this turn around. Plus, with the added questions about his personal life, Owain hoped that their friendship would continue to grow.

“So, how do you feel about the exam?” Leo asked.

Owain smiled. “I flew past all barriers and obstacles the exam deviously formed around my being, and I fought all the monstrous forms the questions took on in order to hinder my progress.”

Leo blinked. Owain opened his mouth to state his words in a clearer manner, but Leo beat him to it.

“You feel confident even with some of the trick questions thrown in there,” Leo summed up. “Does that mean you feel our study session was a success?”

Owain nodded. “I do! It was very helpful. Going over the materials with others is always a great way to study.”

“I feel the same. With another person, you can cover your strengths and weaknesses at the same time,” Leo said, looking out the window.

Owain felt like Leo was thinking of something else, but he wasn’t going to comment.

“It’s the weekend soon. Do you have any plans?”

“Well, as you know, my mother phoned while we were studying. I think she misses me.” Owain swirled his coffee cup a little. “I’m going to go home and visit.”

“And where is home for you?” Leo asked.

“It’s just a bit out of Ylisstol,” Owain answered. “Just before you hit the main Ylisse area, you know?” He made a small hand gesture, drawing small circles to where Ylisstol was roughly in relation to Ylisse.

“I think I’ve visited that area a few times in the past,” Leo mused. “It’s a nice area.”

“Yeah, it is,” Owain agreed. “What about you? What are your weekend plans?”

Leo paused, fiddling with his book a little before he replied. “Some studying, but also there’s been talk around my place regarding a movie night.” Leo’s mouth twitched into a half smile.

Talk. That meant Leo lived with others.

“Roommates?” Owain asked. It could have been whoever “Niles” was, but Leo had stated that Niles was dropping him off home back when they were studying. That probably meant Leo and Niles didn’t share a place together.

“My siblings,” Leo confirmed.

Interesting. Leo wasn’t an only child. Owain hummed. “That’s nice. I’m an only child. Sure, I have friends and other family members, but no siblings.”

“It’s just you and your parents?” Leo asked, like he couldn’t believe it.

“Yes, it is.” Owain took a long sip of his coffee.

He had noticed that Leo hadn’t mentioned anything about his parents. In fact, he had all but let the topic drop earlier. Owain wasn’t going to pry into Leo’s family life. He was aware that not everyone had a happy relationship with their parents. If Leo didn’t want to talk about it, Owain wasn’t going to push. Instead he veered the topic away.

“So, what’s your favourite genre of movie?” Owain asked instead.

Leo stared for a second too long, but then slowly answered.

 

~

 

It turned out that his mother didn’t want him to come over until Sunday, so Owain took Saturday as his time to finish some errands and chores. Thankfully he had completed cleaning prior due to trying to find the book for Leo. Owain hadn’t asked Leo if he was enjoying the book the last time they met. Maybe next time he would. Regardless, Owain only had his kitchen and bathroom to clean. Then he had errands to run.

Owain hopped onto the bus towards the grocery store. It was a quiet day with almost no one on the bus. Owain sat down and waited for his stop. As he waited, he checked his phone. He still had yet to arrange visiting Inigo and Severa. Hopefully he could do that soon. It had been so long since he’d seen them. Leo had mentioned a movie night with his family, and maybe that’s what he needed with Severa and Inigo—a movie night.

His stop arrived, and Owain shoved his tentative planning aside. Entering the store, Owain grabbed a basket and began to mentally go down his checklist. He needed more bread for sure, as well as milk.

“Oh, and some cheese,” Owain muttered to himself, making checks off his list as he went down the aisles.

He was about ready to reach the checkout when he spotted the junk food aisle. It would be criminal of him to skip it. Owain walked down to where the gummy candies and chocolate met, the border between them invisible. Setting his basket down, Owain hummed. He spotted some of his favourites, but Owain couldn’t spend too much on junk food. Chocolate was always a good idea, but the assorted gummies looked good too.

Then again, there was chocolate with fruit and nuts…

“Decisions, decisions,” Owain muttered to himself. “It’s like a battle. Which side do you choose? So many options. Gummies? Or chocolate? Both have their merits. Gummies are sweet, but chocolate is too. Oh, but the nuts can make it salty as well. What will I pick? Maybe I can flip a coin?”

No. That was ridiculous. Owain frowned. He had to pick fast. Some of his groceries could spoil. Owain’s gaze darted around before he spotted some chocolate covered fruit gummies. He grinned and pulled a package off the hook.

“A neutral choice has been made.” Owain beamed. “Like the third option. Perhaps everything in life has a hidden third option?”

Laughing to himself for being philosophical over candy, Owain took his basket and went to the check out. As he stood in line, the back of his neck tingled a little, like someone was staring at him. Owain turned around, but didn’t see anyone. He frowned.

“Sir? Excuse me?” The cashier called for his attention.

“Ah, my apologies.” Owain moved up the line.

The feeling disappeared. Owain sighed. It had to be because he was tired. Once he brought these home, he’d have some time to relax. That would help ease his tired nerves. Nodding to himself, Owain finished the purchase and walked out.

 

~

 

“Owain, sweetie!” His mother greeted him at the door.

“Hey, Mom.” Owain stepped inside and gave her a hug. “How are… things?”

Their conversation from last time lingered silently in the air. His mother was stressed, or so she had told him. Something about Uncle Chrom and Aunt Emmeryn. Owain frowned. Was it because of that warning Aunt Emmeryn gave him and Lucina about that man, Claude Magnus?

“...not as well as I’d like.” His mother truthfully said before she gave a small smile. “Come, let’s talk in the kitchen.”

Owain followed down the familiar hall, into the familiar kitchen. He immediately walked in, like nothing had changed, and opened the cabinets.

“Tea?” he asked knowing his mother preferred it.

“Yes, please,” She said as she walked to sit down at the table. “Thank you.”

“No problem.”

Owain located the kettle and began to fill it.

“So… what’s wrong?” he asked.

“You remember when we had that family dinner and Aunt Emmeryn warned you about Claude Magnus?”

Of course. Owain hated that he was right. “Yeah, I do.”

“Well…” Lissa’s voice dropped and she looked around like someone was listening in. “Don’t ever tell this to your aunt, but your uncle has been worrying more over Claude. Apparently some suspicious people were outside The Shepherds building last week. Thankfully Vaike called them out, and they promptly left without a word.”

Owain froze. “Does Uncle Chrom think those people work for Claude?”

“He has no proof, but he’s sure of it,” Lissa told him. “Also… there was another meeting, just a brunch, and your uncle swears Claude would stare over at their table occasionally. Your aunt would call it paranoia, but we know how well your uncle’s paranoia has helped us out in the past.”

Owain almost laughed at the accusation, but his uncle’s caution wasn’t a bad thing. He had saved many disasters from happening by just being careful.

The kettle whistled and clicked off. Owain went through the routine task of making tea.

“I don’t mean to scare you, Owain, just… if Claude Magnus is really out to sabotage your aunt… and you’re on your own…”

Owain finished pouring the tea. “I’m always careful, Mom. You know that.” He walked over with the two mugs and set one down beside Lissa’s elbow.

“I do, but just, with your father gone this weekend, I suppose I’m a bit paranoid. Promise me you’ll be careful, and if anyone is following you, you’ll report it immediately, right?”

For a moment, Owain almost mentioned the grocery incident, but he snapped his jaw shut tightly. It had been nothing. He couldn’t jump to conclusions. For all he knew it was just some random shopper who zoned out and happened to stare at him before moving on. Especially since Owain had been monologuing to himself out loud anyway. No need to bring something up that would simply stress his mother out.

Reaching over, Owain touched his mother’s hand and held it tightly.

“Of course, Mom. I’ll always be careful.” Owain gave a smile and squeezed her hand in comfort.

 

~

 

The thing about Leo was that Owain had never seen him hang around with anyone.

In hindsight, it felt pretty silly to assume Leo didn’t have a ton of friends. Sure, Owain had never seen him talk to anyone besides Owain before or after class and Leo also kind of exuded a shy, “don’t look at me” type of aura, but that wasn’t really a good excuse for assuming he didn’t have many close contacts. When Owain thought about how Leo could have assumed Owain didn’t have many friends just because he didn’t usually meet with anyone else in front of Leo either, he started to feel a little silly. He could hear his mother’s voice in his head chastising him for jumping ahead of himself again.

He didn’t think he could be blamed for being a bit surprised, though, when a silver haired guy with an eyepatch came up behind Leo at the cafe and threw his arm around Leo’s shoulder like they were old friends.

Leo had only mentioned a “Niles” once before, after all.

And Owain hadn’t expected him to look so _cool_.

“Oh,” Leo said, like a stranger throwing themselves all over him was normal. “Odin, this is Niles.”

Niles looked up at Owain with a lazy smirk.

Owain was, admittedly, a little starstruck.

“Hey!” he greeted, drawing several strange looks his way. “Leo mentioned you before! It’s nice to meet you!”

“Only mentioned me, huh?” Niles said, giving Leo an amused sidelong glance. “I would have thought he’d have said more, considering—”

“Consider where we are and if the next words out of your mouth are appropriate for the situation,” Leo cut in. The tips of his ears were pink.

“Oh, ho!” Owain brought his hand to his chin in what he thought to be quite the devilish pose. “A bit of a mischievous one, then?”

Niles eyed him. Not lazily like he had before, but with something new in his gaze now. “Are you always this loud?”

Owain frowned. That was ruder than he’d expected.

“Ignore him,” Leo said as Niles sank into the seat next to him. There were still notes spread out on the table, but Owain had gotten off track minutes ago and there was no way they would go back to reviewing now. “It was only a matter of time before you two ran into each other. I’d prefer if you didn’t make a spectacle, however.”

“No promises,” Niles said at the same moment Owain said, “Done!”

They looked at each other. Owain wasn’t quite sure what to make of Niles.

But if Leo liked him, that had to mean something. Perhaps Owain was just getting off on the wrong foot. It wasn’t like he and Inigo had gotten along when they’d first met either.

Granted, it had taken years for them to change their rivalry into a real friendship, but Owain was pretty sure he could speed along that process this time.

“So,” Owain said, trying to regain some lost ground, “what do you do?”

Niles didn’t have the traditional student look, but looks could be deceiving.

“This and that,” Niles answered vaguely with a wave of his hand. He was leaning against Leo’s side, but his good eye hadn’t left Owain’s face in a while.

As if sensing that things weren’t exactly going well, Leo sighed and starting gathering up his loose sheets of paper from the table.

“I thought we had a few more minutes, but I believe Niles and I have some other work we have to be doing,” he said.

Owain tried not to let the disappointment show on his face.

Then Leo looked up and continued, “Would you mind continuing this tomorrow?”

They didn’t need to study. Not really. Owain knew that, and he was pretty sure Leo did too. Which just made him all the more excited.

“Of course!” Owain said. “Same time?”

Leo nodded, slinging his bag over his shoulder. “We’ll see you then.”

Niles rose with him, sticking close to Leo’s side and sending Owain a cocky smirk on the way out.

Owain still wasn’t sure what to make of him. He wasn’t sure he even liked Niles yet either. Granted, they hadn’t really spoken at all, but still...

That said, there was still no denying Niles really did look cool.

 

~

 

He probably should have picked up on the fact Leo had said “ _We’ll_ see you then” rather than “I’ll see you then,” so it was his own fault that he was once again a little surprised to see Niles sitting at Leo’s table when Owain walked into the cafe the next afternoon. Looking back on it, Owain realized Niles’s presence made sense.

The thing that surprised him the  _most,_ however, was the fact Niles and Leo were kissing.

Owain quickly shut his mouth and mentally willed the heat in his face to subside as he stood in the doorway. How foolish that he hadn’t put it together before, he thought. Niles was the only person who Leo had ever mentioned aside from family, he picked Leo up, he’d been so touchy the day before—of course they were together.

Still, Owain didn’t have a lot of experience around couples, and he found himself averting his eyes so he didn’t end up staring at Leo and Niles sharing a clearly private moment. It would have been weird to stare anyway. Or was it weirder to look away quickly? They were waiting on him, so should he go over and tell them he’d arrived? Or let them have their moment?

Oh no, Owain thought. He suddenly realized he didn’t know how to act around couples _at all_. None of Owain’s friends had ever dated before now.

Thankfully Leo and Niles didn’t take long to part, though their fingers remained entangled under the table. Owain quickly took the opportunity to hastily snag the seat across them them and toss his backpack to the floor. He pretended not to notice the way Leo coughed in surprise at his entrance.

“Hey!” Owain greeted. “I didn’t make you wait long, did I?”

Rather than go along with it, however, Leo, with a faint pink to his cheeks, said, “You saw that.”

It was more a statement than a question. Owain deflated, scratching the back of his neck out of awkwardness. He could feel Niles watching him again.

“Sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to intrude.”

“You didn’t,” Leo said carefully.

Niles shrugged. “We’ll let it slide this time.”

Leo elbowed him, though not hard. Owain laughed in surprise at the sudden shift in mood.

“Thanks for your graciousness,” he said playfully. He looked down at his backpack and then up at the table again, frowning. He couldn’t think of many reasons Niles would want to hang around while they studied. “But wait, I thought Niles wasn’t in our class.”

“I’m not,” Niles said.

Another non-answer. Owain frowned harder.

Leo steepled his fingers under his chin. “Niles is just here for the company and perhaps to quiz us when we’re finished. I figured this wouldn’t be a particularly intensive study session, and there are errands we have to run later. It’d be easier if he waited here rather than drive all the way home and then back in an hour.”

“I promise not to draw too much attention to myself,” Niles said teasingly.

That made sense enough to Owain. Leo still looked at Owain carefully. “That’s not going to be a problem, is it?”

Owain took a beat to think it over. It felt like Leo was asking more than just if it was okay for Niles to sit and study with them. He couldn’t figure out what, though.

“Yeah, no problem,” he answered, shrugging.

He thought that’d be the end of it, but Leo carried on.

“Even though I didn’t tell you about Niles and I?”

His stare was almost as intense as Niles’s. Owain was starting to see what they had in common more and more by the minute.

“Yeah,” Owain said again, mildly surprised. “You’re a private person, right? It’s not like I asked.” With that thought in mind, he added, “Thanks for being open with me.”

Leo looked caught off guard for some reason. Even Niles peered back with mild surprise.

“You’re welcome,” Leo said slowly. It seemed like he wanted to say more, but he didn’t.

Niles put his elbow on the table and propped his head up in his hand. “You know, Odin, you’re rather curious for a man who talks to himself too much.”

 _Curious_ felt like one step away from _mysterious._ Owain beamed.

“Thanks!” Then the further implications of what Niles had said set in. Sure, Owain did probably talk to himself too much, but he didn’t remember ever doing so in front of Niles. “Hey! Rude!”

Niles laughed. Owain wilted in his chair a bit. He hadn’t muttered to himself   _too_ much the last time they’d been here, had he?

“Alright, let’s get started already,” Leo said, shooting Niles another glance.

By the end of the day, Owain was beginning to think Leo was never wrong about anything. Every time they studied, he became more and more confident that Leo didn’t need their reviews at all. Not only that, but he was right about Niles being a help too. Niles’s voice was always smooth and even, and he didn’t stumble when making trick questions up on the fly to confuse them. Owain felt confident in saying he’d caught all but one of those tricks. Even though Niles still teased him for getting one wrong, it helped to have someone actually make him think about the material they were reviewing. It was a nice enough gesture, even though Niles was still a somewhat rude guy.

By the end of the day, Owain dared to say he even liked him.

 

~

 

With the week over and the weekend upon them, Owain didn’t feel guilty about not studying and instead relaxing and doing what he wanted. The study sessions with Leo were making him feel more confident. In fact, Owain couldn’t remember the last time he felt so far ahead in a class. Sure, a lot of the time it felt more like Leo—and even sometimes Niles—was tutoring him, but Owain knew that Leo was internalizing things too. He had caught Leo’s expression a few times and it was always thoughtful. Owain admired that quality in Leo, how he could carefully analyze their class material rapidly before speaking. Also the way Leo spoke and studied never made Owain feel inadequate.

Smiling to himself, Owain vowed, once the semester ended, to buy Leo some sort of appreciation gift for all his help. Leo would never assume he deserved one, but Owain wasn’t the kind of person to let his appreciation go by unnoticed. It was rude, and his mother had raised him better.

As though on cue, Owain’s phone started to buzz, vibrating on the table. Looking down, Owain saw Lucina’s number on his call display. Owain balanced his phone against his ear and slouched into one of the chairs.

“Hey,” Owain greeted.

 _“Hello, Owain.”_ Lucina’s voice came through clearly. _“I hope you aren’t too busy?”_

Owain looked at his kitchen table. His laptop was open with an episode of an anime paused. At his side was some junk food and doodles.

“No, I’m not busy.” Owain told her. “What’s up?”

_“Just preparing to volunteer at The Shepherds. I know this is last minute, but I was wondering if you wanted to join me?”_

Join her. Owain looked at his clock and then his calendar. It was true that he felt prepared for classes and that he wasn’t doing anything. Saying no would just be lazy and it would make him feel scummy for the rest of the day.

“Sure, I can help out for a bit,” Owain told her. “With what?”

 _“Oh, thank you.”_ Lucina’s voice beamed. _“It’s not too fancy, just helping to build a greenhouse in the back of a smaller center.”_

Owain nodded, pulling a pad of paper out. “Which center?”

The Shepherd had many centers, and Owain needed more information if he hoped to find out where he was supposed to go.

Lucina laughed apologetically. _“Right. I’ll text you the address and I’ll see you there. We start at one.”_

“Okay.” Owain nodded. “I’ll be there.”

 

~

 

The smaller center turned out to be a bit out of town, just before the highway. Owain remembered it. He had visited it a couple times before as a teenager when it was being built. He smiled, looking over at a small oak tree and remembering planting it along with Lucina.

Shutting his car door, Owain walked up to the entrance. Inside, he was immediately greeted by Lucina and Vaike. Lucina’s hair was up in a low bun, giving the illusion that her hair was short if viewed at the front. Her clothes were also old and dirty. Owain eyed her shirt and swore it was one of his old ones.

Vaike, on the other hand, wore nothing on his top and just a pair of dirty jeans. Even though he was close to his uncle’s age, Vaike had never looked any better. When he wasn’t helping out with The Shepherds (and giving Owain’s father a headache on the side), Vaike was a personal trainer. It clearly showed. When Owain had been younger, he’d marveled and awed at Vaike’s strength, even after he lost an arm wrestling match to Sully.

(Then again, Sully was on a whole other level than most people. Owain truly feared and admired her strength.)

“Hey, Owain!” Vaike waved largely. “Ready to get to work? Luci here told me you were coming over. I asked a few of the people I work with at the gym to assist us too.”

“Hey, Uncle Vaike,” Owain said before nodding. “I am ready in both mind and body to assist building this structure of growth.”

Vaike laughed boisterously. “That’s what I like to hear, kiddo! Go get changed and meet us out in the back.”

Owain nodded, turning towards the bathrooms he knew were on the right side of the building when Lucina gently grabbed his arm, stopping him. Owain opened his mouth, but Lucina pressed a finger to her lips. Slamming his lips shut, Owain watched as Vaike disappeared out of sight. It was only then that Lucina talked.

“My apologies, Owain.” Lucina took her finger off her lips. “Can I talk with you?”

“Uh, sure?” Owain blinked. “Is something wrong?”

Lucina flushed a little. “It isn’t that serious. I’m sorry if I’m making it sound more serious than it actually is.” She stepped back. “Just… I wanted to ask if you’d felt anything strange this past little while?”

Strange? Owain tried to think back, but the most exciting thing to happen to him was meeting Niles and studying outside of class with Leo. “No, not particularly. Why?”

“Well, it’s just… I was out last night with Cynthia. We just went shopping, but I sort of felt… watched.” Lucina bit her lip. “I know I’m sounding paranoid, but I couldn’t help but think about what my father was saying and…”

It was like his mother. Owain suddenly knew why Aunt Emmeryn wanted to keep everything on the down low. She didn’t want them jumping at the smallest of coincidences and being overly paranoid. Of course, they were trained as children to be wary and if scared to find a trusted adult, but incidents had been very few and far between. This, however, was probably just nerves. It had been weeks since Owain’s only paranoid moment, and nothing had come of it at all. Perhaps his uncle had said a bit more to Lucina and unwittingly planted paranoia in her as well.

“I’m sorry.” Lucina took his silence as judgement. “I’m sounding strange.”

“No, it’s fine,” Owain quickly reassured her. “I’m sure it was just your mind playing tricks on you. We’re all a bit stressed due to school, right?”

Lucina gave a thin smile, but it was warm and filled with relief. “You’re right. I’m just a bit on edge. Sorry to have made this sound more than it really is. I’ll let you get changed. See you outside.”

She left, and Owain went into the bathroom to change, looking forward to helping everyone out. Through the entire afternoon, Owain didn’t think about his conversation with Lucina again. He forced himself not to.

 

~

 

However, the conversation with Lucina couldn’t help but drift into Owain’s mind as he commuted to school on Monday. He was seated on the bus, bag in his lap, humming to himself when someone flopped down beside him. Owain naturally shuffled a little, looking over to make sure he wasn’t accidentally invading some stranger’s personal space when he saw the news they were reading on their phone.

It wasn’t a huge article, just about some small meeting, but he saw his Aunt Emmeryn’s face in the photo. There were a few other people, but the other person that stood out in his mind was a man with an overall oily look about him. It sent Owain shivering a little, wondering if that was Claude Magnus.

Not that it mattered. Owain wasn’t going to dig into this. He wasn’t sure when it happened, but he liked keeping a “need to know” basis with his aunt and uncle in the media spotlight. Sure, Owain read the news and kept up as any citizen should, but he wasn’t going to wrap himself up in unnecessary worries and fears. Not after his mother had confessed all her own worries to him as well. He needed to stay grounded. Nothing had really happened yet, after all.

Making a mental note to at least read the article some time later, Owain got off at his stop and headed towards class.

Leo was once again already there, sitting with his tablet out and notes underneath. Owain slipped in beside him, giving a smile and set his bag down.

“Greetings and salutations to you, Leo. I hope the break in our routine has rejuvenated your spirit for another grueling week of studies.”

At least Leo didn’t owlishly blink at him. “Hello,” he casually said. “I’m fine, thank you.”

Owain beamed. “I’m most glad to hear.”

“I was looking over the syllabus this weekend,” Leo said. “We’re having another quiz coming up.”

Leo wasn’t going to say it, but Owain got the message. “We can pick any time to study after class,” Owain said, proud he picked up on Leo’s subtly.

“Excellent.” Leo hummed, a pleased smile gracing his face for a moment. “I have calculus after this, but we can meet up at the cafe once I’m done that class.”

The cafe was becoming their usual place to study. Owain loved that they were creating their own space.

“Sure!” he agreed readily.

Leo flipped through a few of his notes. “If I could leave flashcards to you?”

To him? Owain blinked. Leo had been the one who always made the cards, but this felt like a responsibility Owain had to take on. It was small, but Leo was once again entrusting him with a task and like with the pens and the book, Owain was up for the challenge. Even if the challenge was making flashcards.

“Of course!” Owain said a bit too loudly. “Leave it to me!”

Leo winced a little at the volume and Owain flushed a little, but at least Leo didn’t scold him.

 

~

 

After their class Owain went to the bookstore on campus and bought some index cards. He then made his way over to the cafe, grabbing their spot and a glass of water for the time being and got to work. His writing wasn’t like Leo’s—angular, perfect, precise. It was flowy. Most people assumed Owain had messy writing and sometimes he did, but this time he wanted to impress Leo.

So he pulled out an old skill he once tried to hone: calligraphy.

Owain had become fascinated with medieval texts and other old texts and tried to copy their style as a child. It didn’t always work, but Owain liked to think he was somewhat competent.

“I got this,” Owain muttered to himself as he tried to not smudge the writing.

The quiz might only be a quiz, but the materials they were covering were vast. Owain had to flip through his notes and textbook multiple times to make sure he had everything in order. Time slipped by, and just as Owain felt like it was about time for Leo to show up, a shadow cast into his eyesight. Owain looked up, Leo’s name on his lips, but instead came face to face with Niles.

Niles still had his eyepatch on, and it made Owain wonder briefly what had happened. His hair was also pulled back into a low ponytail, and that allowed Owain to see a gleam of metal on his ears. He also stood a bit too close.

Owain inhaled and smelled his cologne, spicy and a bit earthy. Niles stayed still for a moment, as though he was testing to see how Owain would react.

Owain steeled himself. He and Inigo used to do this as children, see who could get into each other’s personal space the longest before the other freaked out. It was probably a bit childish of Owain to see this as a challenge, but he sat still, staring back at Niles. A beat passed. Then Niles gave a coy smile and sat down smoothly, never breaking eye contact. Only then did Owain talk.

“Greetings, Niles.” Owain said, giving a small wave with his hand, still holding the pen. “I am almost done with these index cards. If you could give me a moment?”

“Oh, sure, take your sweet time,” Niles drawled. Was it just Owain, or was his voice slightly smokey?

Owain promptly ignored it. He couldn’t spend his time nitpicking and analyzing everything everyone did. He had index cards to finish. “Thank you,” he said evenly.

He expected Niles to just sit there, but instead Owain then felt Niles tug the textbook out from under his arm and proceed to read out the next point. Owain blinked before he smiled. Writing down what Niles said, Owain finished the cards quicker than if he did it on his own. Setting his pen down, Owain sorted the cards chronologically and gathered his notes.

“Thank you for the help,” Owain said.

“My pleasure.” Niles smoothly set the textbook down. “Sometimes we all need a bit of a helping hand.”

Again, Niles’s voice dropped low. Owain distracted himself by looking at the index cards one last time. He had no idea how long it would take Leo to arrive, but Owain couldn’t just sit in silence with Niles. That was rude. He had to find a topic, one that wasn’t just small talk. Niles didn’t seem like the kind of person to entertain small talk.

Scanning quickly, Owain tried to think when he caught Niles’s fingers. They were calloused and rough in the same way Owain had seen Noire’s fingers. He hadn’t spoken to her in a while, but Owain knew how much she loved archery.

“You like archery?” Owain found himself asking, looking up at Niles before he could stop himself.

For a moment something crossed Niles’s face. Owain barely caught it long enough to register what had happened.

“Yes, I do,” Niles slowly said.

Owain felt the need to backtrack, to explain himself. “Ah. It isn’t like Leo mentioned anything,” he babbled. “It’s just, I have a friend who enjoys archery, and your fingers are like hers so I just sort of jumped to a topic and…”

Oh no. He was babbling. Owain shut his jaw and waited for Niles’s response. Worst case scenario, he’d just freaked out Leo’s boyfriend. Best case, Niles would brush this off as something slightly weird and ignore him.

However, Niles did neither. Instead he took the third option, the one Owain didn’t even think about.

“I’ve been practicing archery for a long time,” Niles suddenly said. “Of course, life is a bit… preoccupied now, but I do try to keep it up.”

Owain blinked before he smiled. A conversation! He managed a conversation with Niles! One that wasn’t awkward or stilted! He had this so long as he didn’t say anything too strange. A warm flutter filled Owain’s chest as he felt like he was slowly making another friend.

 

~

 

Owain had wondered more than once about suggesting he and Leo hang out without the pretense of studying hovering over them. But when Leo had asked him to make the flashcards for the next time they saw each other, Owain had taken the request seriously.

And when Leo had then later asked if they could study somewhere else besides the crowded coffee shop on campus, Owain hadn’t thought twice about volunteering his apartment. Since Leo always drove to school, Owain figured his own place was closer to campus than wherever Leo and Niles lived. Plus, he figured that switching to a more informal space to study would also move them a little closer to a normal hangout session. Owain knew he’d been the one to extend the offer to Leo to study in the first place, but he was pretty sure by this point that neither of them needed to study _this_ much.

Other people might have said Owain took his sweet time when it came to his creative process. Owain liked to think he took the perfect amount of time necessary, and he felt his theory was proven true when he heard a knock on the door mere seconds after he dropped his pen after putting the finishing touches on the last flashcard.

He knew Niles would be tagging along to this study session as well. Owain still wasn’t sure what Niles did if he wasn’t in school like Leo, but Niles sidestepped so many direct questions with cool words and sideways smirks that Owain had all but given up explicitly asking. And after Niles had proven himself to be a good study partner despite not taking the class himself, Owain didn’t mind his presence in the least. The less Niles answered about his private life, the more mysteriously appealing he seemed anyway. So Owain couldn’t really complain.

Neither Leo nor Niles were supposed to show up for another thirty minutes, however, so Owain wondered if the knock on the door was a result of a package he’d forgotten he’d ordered or something else.

That thought was quickly proven wrong when he opened the door and found Niles standing on the other side.

“Greetings!” Owain said, opening the door wider. He resisted the urge to look around the kitchen for the dishes from the night before. Owain had originally planned on cleaning those before Leo and Niles arrived, but it looked like he was too late now.

He stepped aside and flung out his arm. “Welcome to my humble abode!”

Niles keep a straight face, but Owain could have sworn he saw the corner of his lips twitch.

“You’re early,” Owain continued as Niles stepped inside and very obviously looked around. He glanced down the hallway, but it was empty. He shut the door behind them. “Where’s Leo?”

“He had to do something and thought he might run late, so he dropped me off here first,” Niles said. He looked over his shoulder at Owain, who stood slightly awkwardly in the doorway. “If that’s alright.”

“That’s totally fine!” Owain said, moving further into his apartment. “We can just wait until he shows up then. You can sit down anywhere if you’d like. I’d give you a tour, but I don’t think there’s much to see.”

Owain laughed at his own joke. He thought his apartment was decent enough, but it wasn’t very large. His apartment consisted of a rather basic kitchen, living room, bedroom, and attached bathroom. He at least has his own washer and dryer tucked behind a pair of double doors in the kitchen. Not everyone in his area could claim such a convenience.

Some might have said it was a little cramped. Owain liked it well enough though. At least his apartment got way more natural light than Inigo’s, he thought. Plus, his bedroom didn’t have huge piles of laundry all over the floor like Severa’s. Those two might have chided him about keeping his journals and pens and other items scattered around the place, however.

He caught Niles now pointedly staring at the unwashed dishes next to the sink. Owain huffed goodnaturedly.

“I was going to clean them before you got here,” he defended, pushing up his sleeves and turning on the hot water faucet. “It’s your fault for getting here early.”

“Of course it is,” Niles drawled, sounding amused.

Owain gave him an unimpressed look and again could have sworn Niles nearly smiled. He grabbed the half empty bottle of dish soap from the counter.

“I think I’ll take the tour,” Niles said, turning away. His words were a little hard to hear over the sound of running water.

Owain looked up. He’d already grabbed a dish brush. “Huh?”

He saw Niles picking his way through some of the magazines Severa had left scattered around his coffee table and shrugged. If Niles could keep himself entertained while Owain cleaned, that was easier in the long run.

At some point he heard Niles ask if Owain minded him going into the bedroom, and Owain waved him on without looking up. He didn’t have much to hide in there, and he’d left his bedroom door open anyway. It wasn’t until Owain placed the last clean pan on the drying rack that he remembered that he’d left the Manual of Justice laying out on his desk.

“Hey!” Owain called out, quickly drying his hands. He found Niles sitting on the edge of his bed, idly looking around. The Manual of Justice was nowhere in sight. Owain relaxed marginally. “Having fun?”

“As much as could be had on this wondrous tour,” Niles said dryly.

There was not much else in Owain’s bedroom besides his bed and the small TV and gaming system he kept in the corner of his desk.. Not much that would keep someone like Niles entertained, anyway. To Owain, it was more than enough.

“You were the one who got here early,” Owain reminded him, eyes wandering over to his desk. “And you told me to wash up, not keep you entertained.”

Niles placed his hand over his chest somewhat dramatically. “I did no such thing. Maybe you’re not a very good host.”

“It was definitely implied,” Owain said absently.

The Manual of Justice was sitting face open to the page Owain had last left it off at. The other flashcards he had made were scattered around with his calligraphy pens, but none of it looked like it had been touched. He inconspicuously shuffled over to his desk and shut his journal. When he turned back around, he found Niles watched him with an arched eyebrow.

“Lesson number one about inviting guests over,” Niles drawled. “Don’t leave anything out that you wouldn’t want people to see.”

He looked over at the laptop Owain had left open on his desk and read the open tabs in his browser. “Though I can definitely see why you might be ashamed if your search history mostly consists of videos like _‘how to make a paper crown’_ and _‘Banjo-Kazooie speedrun.’_ ”

Owain made a “pfft” sound with his mouth, crossing his arms. “You’re just jealous.”

“Of course,” Niles said flatly, the corner of his mouth curved upwards. “That’s definitely it.”

There wasn’t much Owain was actually worried about Niles finding in his room. The Manual of Justice was probably the most embarrassing thing he owned. Embarrassing for other people to find, at least. Owain was secretly proud of it. He was well acquainted with memories of Inigo sneaking into his room and making fun of him for it, though, and Owain wasn’t eager to relive that stage of early friendship with Niles.

If Niles had happened to have read any of the awesome saga of Odin Dark, the nomad swordsman who had been recently transformed into a mage due to the latest event in his endless travels, and thought it was lame, however, he didn’t let it show.

“Anyway,” Owain said, glancing at his phone. It had only been a few minutes since Niles had arrived, and they still had time to kill before Leo was supposed to show up, especially if he was going to be late. It was times like these that Owain wished Leo had gotten a new phone already so they could keep each other updated, but he figured there were worse fates than spending a few minutes getting to know Niles more. “What do you want to do for the next twenty minutes or so? I think I have some leftovers if you’re hungry, or—”

“Tell me something,” Niles interrupted. “What made you want to be friends with Leo?”

That question caught Owain off guard. He wrinkled his nose. “Like, what made me sit next to him in class?”

Niles shrugged lazily. “Sure.”

“I mean, we shared another class before this one.” Wouldn’t Leo have shared that already?

Niles tilted his head. “Besides that.”

“Besides that?”

Owain thought about it. It wasn’t a question he had pondered much before. To him, it had just seemed obvious. “I guess… Leo just seemed cool.”

“Cool?” Niles echoed, sounding slightly surprised. He sat up straighter. “I don’t think that’s a word I’ve heard used to describe Leo much. Are you sure we’re referring to the same man?”

He sounded like he was joking, but Owain wasn’t.

“But it’s true, isn’t it?” Owain looked at Niles strangely. “If you’re dating, you must think the same thing, right? You and Leo are both cool.” Owain added, “In different ways, I mean.”

Niles and Leo definitely had different auras about them for sure. Different styles. Leo was quieter, for one thing. Niles wasn’t particularly loud either, but he carried himself in a way Leo didn’t. He exuded a type of awareness Owain couldn’t describe. But there was something similar about one another as well. Something that really appealed to Owain.

Niles looked at him for a long moment, considering. Owain wondered if he’d said something wrong. After years of Inigo and Severa bluntly telling him when he got too weird, it was sometimes hard to judge where Owain stood when speaking to others.

Then Niles shook his head and said, “You’re a weird guy, Odin. You know that, right?”

He sounded almost appreciative.

Owain laughed, for some reason relieved. “You know, I’ve been told that before.” He leaned against his desk. “Was there anything else you wanted to ask me?”

Niles tilted his head the other way.

“What types of movies do you like?” he asked.

The question caught Owain by surprise again, but he was just as eager to answer.

  
(The answer was action movies, of course.)

 

~

 

“Sorry for being late,” Leo said as Owain let him in. “I realized I had to turn around by the time we were halfway here. Here’s the book you let me borrow, by the way.”

He held out the thick book. Owain took it from him, unsurprised to find it just as pristine as it had been the day he’d given it to Leo.

“Thank you again for letting me borrow it,” Leo said as he toed off his shoes by the front door. “It was a good read. Sorry it’s taken me so long to give it back.”

“No worries,” Owain said, tucking the book under his arm and leading Leo to the living room where he’d already set up the flashcards in a more orderly fashion. He made a mental note to actually read the book he let Leo borrow later. “I’m just glad you got to read it.”

Leo looked around, clearly searching for something. “Is Niles not here?”

“Here I am,” Niles said, wandering out of Owain’s bedroom. “You didn’t think I’d left, did you?”

Leo brushed a lock of hair out of his face. “Of course not. I just wasn’t sure how well you two would get along without me.”

Niles and Owain shared a glance, but it was Owain who shrugged with a smirk and said, “Better than expected.”

This seemed to mildly surprise Leo, but he looked pleased nonetheless.

“I’m glad to hear that,” he said. “Now that I’m finally here, let’s get started.”

 

~

 

Studying lasted well into the late afternoon, and by the time they finished Owain’s stomach was rumbling and his brain was fried. The flashcards he made turned out to be perfect and Leo had taken more of a backseat in their study session, letting Owain lead it. Owain felt a wave of pride fill him as he sorted through the cards, quizzing Leo and letting Leo quiz him in return. Niles also assisted, his smooth voice filling Owain’s apartment. Leo and Niles sat beside each other and it looked almost surreal to have the two of them in his apartment. They were so cool, and Owain was almost distracted by their combined presence but he managed to hold it in and focus.

Until the hunger and his concentration fading. Stretching Owain could sense Leo was finishing up. Niles was leaning back into the couch, his fingers brushing Leo’s arm gently. Owain tried to not stare and stood up, flashing a smile.

“So, uh, I know we’re pretty much done but would you like some tea?”

“Sure,” Leo said a second later. “I’ll clean up here.” He began to pick up flashcards.

Owain walked into his kitchen and was getting the kettle out when Niles showed up, leaning against the wall leading into the kitchen before walking in.

“Want any help?” Niles offered.

Owain blinked. “Sure. The teapot is in that cupboard and the tea is in the one beside it. What kind do you want? I have a small variety.”

Niles went to the cupboard and opened it up, staring at the contents. It allowed Owain to fill the kettle and set it to boil. He then watched as Niles took the teapot that his mother gifted him and a tin of Earl Grey tea and set it on the counter.

“Good choice.” Owain hummed. “I also have Cream of Earl Grey if you want that?” Niles turned and stared. Owain laughed. “It’s a different blend is all.”

“This is fine,” Niles assured. “Cups?”

Oh, right. Owain went to another cupboard and pulled some mugs out. He had a collection, some nerdy mugs but also some regular mugs. He figured Leo and Niles wouldn’t appreciate mugs with anime references or pop culture references so he picked the plain purple ones Inigo gifted him after going to five different stores to locate them. Why he’d had such a difficult time with finding purple mugs Owain would never know.

The water boiled and the kettle whistled before shutting off. Owain darted over and made the tea, handing Niles the mugs. “We’ll take these over and let the tea steep.”

Niles took the mugs. “I must say, you’re rather efficient.”

“I do my best.” Owain shrugged.

They returned to the coffee table cleaned, the flashcards neatly stacked and Leo looking around the room. Sitting back in their spaces Owain put the teapot down.

“Say, I’ve noted a lack of photos,” Leo said.

Owain flushed. It wasn’t the first time someone had commented but his story hadn’t changed. “It’s easier to have photos digitally. Also, when I was a child my mother gifted me a photo album, and, well… it got ruined.”

Ruined was a polite word. He had doodled all over the sides and the photos, at the time mad at Inigo so his face was scratched out in most of the photos.

Leo choked. “I… see.”

Owain laughed. “It’s all right. Just after that incident we all collectively decided photos and me should be a digital affair.”

That, and Owain and his family loved taking photos and if they attempted to have physical copies of the photos they’d have no room.

“The tea is steeped,” Owain announced ready to change the conversation.

“Thank you, Odin.” Leo gave a small smile.

 

~

 

The next time they were in class together, before Owain even had a chance to sit down, Leo pulled out a phone. It was clearly new. He then fiddled with it before handing it over to Owain. On the screen was a new contact ready to be filled in. Owain stared for a moment, his heart skipping a beat, before he took the phone.

“You finally got your phone fixed,” Owain said.

“Yes, and I don’t have your number,” Leo pointed out.

Owain nodded and immediately added his contact in, making sure to put “Odin” because they were friends and nicknames should be used in contacts anyways. He then returned the phone before class started, feeling a smile fill his face as his phone vibrated a moment later, Leo sending a confirmation text.

 

~

 

The revelation that Inigo was seeing somebody seriously for what was probably the first time in his life was both a pleasant surprise and a wealth of comedy at once. Owain’s imagination ran more than a little wild before Severa and Inigo managed to reign him in again. The topic of Inigo’s boyfriend’s intriguing, unknown job remained, however.

“We’ve only been on, like, two dates,” Inigo defended, like work was a normal topic to hold off on speaking about until date five. Even Owain raised his eyebrows at that.

Severa sniffed, unimpressed.

“Three dates,” she reminded him. “Coffee date, dinner date, and the gallery date today.” She counted them off on her fingers. “Plus the night you met, which is still suspicious, to be honest.”

“It was a coincidence,” Inigo said.

Owain was caught between what he realistically thought was likely and the parts of his brain that wanted the best story version of events. Severa answered for both of them.

“Doubtful,” Severa said. Inigo made a face. “But anyway, you’ve talked for literal hours now, and he hasn’t brought up work on his own. Doesn’t he have a normal job like the rest of us? That’s just suspicious. Especially since he keeps taking you to these fancy places.”

“The art gallery in town is practically free,” Inigo said. “It’s public domain.”

Owain made a noise of disagreement. “ _Giovanni’s_ sure isn’t.”

“What he said,” Severa agreed. She fiddled with her straw some more, wrinkling her nose. “Anyway, don’t you think that’s kind of weird?”

“Not really,” Inigo said, just as Owain said, “Not if he’s some kind of Bruce Wayne.”

Inigo looked at him, frowning. “What?” He shook his head. “Nevermind. He’s not Batman or whatever.”

“But we don’t _know_ that,” Owain said. The part of his brain that craved a good story had won out.

Severa rolled her eyes. A beam of sunlight glinted off her sunglasses.

“Look,” she said. “I’m happy for you, or whatever. I’m glad things are going well with this prince dude who’s basically swept you off your feet.”

Inigo blushed. “He hasn’t—”

Owain placed his palms on the table and said, “An _evil_ prince—”

“Will you drop it with the—”

“But,” Severa cut in, raising her voice to be heard over both of them. “I’m just saying, maybe you want to get to know him a bit better before you decide to get married or something equally stupid.”

Inigo flushed and looked down at the table, clearly lost in thought. Owain placed a hand on his shoulder, waiting for Inigo to look up at him again before speaking.

“Severa has a point,” he said, making an effort to be serious.  “Maybe take it slow until you get to know this guy a little more. Then when you know he’s not secretly an axe murderer or anything, you guys can get hitched.”

Inigo huffed.

“You don’t even understand how _slow_ we are going right now,” he said. He quickly added, “And no marriage! I’m too young to be married yet!”

“Yet,” Severa echoed.

The look on her face said it all. Inigo groaned.

“Come on,” he whined.

Owain laughed as Inigo groaned again.

“That’s the spirit!” he said, clapping Inigo on the back.

Severa took another noisy slurp of her empty drink, pulling her sunglasses back over her eyes. “Owain, wipe your mouth already. You’ve had cream cheese on your lip for twenty minutes.”

“Aw, seriously? Why didn’t anybody tell me?”

Owain reached over to swipe a napkin. Inigo pulled his head out of his hands.

“I just did,” Severa said as Owain cleaned up his face.

Inigo sighed. “Why can’t you guys just listen to me talk about a hot guy I’m dating and be normally supportive for once?”

“I thought we were being supportive,” Owain said, balling the used napkin up in his hand.

“Making him out to be a creep instead of a really handsome, considerate guy who likes me back isn’t very supportive.”

Severa shrugged. “I’m trying to look out for you, but if you don’t want to listen, then I’ll just look really stunning at your funeral.”

“Wow,” Inigo said. “You sure do know how to make a guy feel loved.”

Owain eyed him. Then, after a beat, he stuffed his napkin into his empty pastry bag and looked at Severa.

“Hey,” he said. “How are things going with that girl you’re chatting with online?”

The diversion worked like a charm. Severa immediately bristled, rushing to her own defense about how she was _just friends_ and _we talk about makeup, that’s it._ That had been Severa’s reaction the last two times Owain had pointed out how much Severa talked with Owain over text about this girl, and it was the perfect subject change. Owain wanted Inigo to be careful just as much as Severa did, but at the end of the day Inigo was an adult and Owain didn’t mind giving him a momentary social breather now and then either. Severa could hound Inigo about his “creepy” boyfriend all she wanted later.

Joking antihero narratives aside, Owain was happy for Inigo, truly. And considering how many times Inigo responded to Owain’s texts with _Xander this_ or _Xander that_ after that afternoon, Owain thought Inigo had made a good choice. Even if his boyfriend really was in “the mob” like Severa had guessed.

Owain snorted into his drink. Yeah, that one was unlikely. Sometimes the things that came out of Severa’s mouth were more ridiculous than the things that came out of his own.

 

~

 

Owain usually avoided getting too involved with the news, but he couldn’t help but stare when he caught the headline. He nearly dropped his breakfast sandwich as the screen displayed in bold letters “CLAUDE MAGNUS FOUND DEAD AT WEEKEND GALA.”

An icy feeling fell over Owain as he stopped to listen to the news, to the details, but his brain could barely register what he was hearing. A picture of Magus flashed on the screen and Owain couldn’t help but think this man, this dead man, was the one that Uncle Chrom was worrying over and that Aunt Emmeryn was trying to downplay. The one his mother had confessed to worrying about in secret. Claude Magnus was a real person, and now he was dead.

It wasn’t anything that should have affected him directly, but somehow Owain felt affected. He numbly walked to his class, wondering if he should text his mother and father or perhaps Lucina. He then shook his head. Lucina had classes, and his parents were busy. This wasn’t an emergency, and he could phone about it later.

Seeing Leo in class made Owain feel a bit more stable. He walked to his usual spot and sat down. Leo looked up from his tablet and gave a small smile.

“Good morning, Odin.”

“Morning, Leo,” Owain greeted back. “How was your weekend?”

Leo paused for a moment. “Quiet. I spent most of my weekend relaxing. You?”

Owain thought to the episodes of the anime he had finished and the writing in his diary. “Watched some shows. Did some writing.”

Leo didn’t press and turned to the front of the room. “Say, after this want to get some coffee? My calculus class is cancelled. Professor is sick.”

Owain immediately beamed. “Sure! I’d love that.”

Coffee with Leo would help him forget about the news and the twisting his gut threatened to do.

Their lecture started, and that also helped Owain concentrate and shove the news out of his mind. While Magnus being found dead was tragic and a bit ominous, there was nothing for him to worry about. Aunt Emmeryn and Owain’s mother had said it best: everyone was just a bit on edge and paranoid. Sure, Magnus may have been a bit creepy, but that didn’t mean he had done anything to hurt Owain or his family. Nothing that would have killed him, at least. His death was just a coincidence, and Owain didn’t need to worry.

Once their class was finished, Owain kept the thoughts in his mind and stood up, packing his things. Leo was waiting, and with coffee on the horizon, Owain was ready to just relax, hang out with Leo, and not worry. Exiting the theater, Owain was about to talk to Leo when he saw a flash of long blue hair and heard Lucina’s voice.

“Owain!” she called out, walking briskly towards him.

It was rare to see Lucina on this side of campus. Owain froze and swallowed thickly, turning to his cousin. Lucina passed through the crowds and was at his side.

“Owain.” Lucina grabbed his arm. “I want to…”

She stopped and looked at Leo.

“I’m sorry, are you busy?” Lucina asked Owain. “I just need a moment.”

“Uh, right.” Owain shot Leo a look. “I’ll be back in a second.”

Leo was staring at Lucina and then back to him. Owain paused. Leo’s gaze was  a bit intense. Owain wanted to inquire what was running through Leo’s mind, but Lucina said she needed a moment. He could talk to her and then head back to Leo. Stepping off the side, he turned to Lucina.

“Sorry for rushing here,” Lucina softly said. “Did you see the news?”

“I did.” Owain didn’t need to ask her for clarification.

“I know I’m overreacting. I just…” Lucina sucked in a breath. “I just wanted to confirm you were all right.”

Owain felt his heart squeeze. He gently touched Lucina’s shoulder. “I’m fine. This is just a strange coincidence.”

Lucina nodded. “Paranoia over took me. I’m glad you’re fine. Anyways, I ran off and I’m supposed to meet up with Cynthia. I’ll see you later, and… do you think we can visit Aunt Emmelyn soon? Together?”

Owain bit his lip. “Things might be hectic for her, but we can see what we can do. Anyways, I sort of left Leo…”

“I’m sorry.” Lucina stepped away. “Don’t let me interrupt your date.”

“Date?” Owain blinked. “No, you got it wrong. Leo has a boyfriend.”

But Lucina was already gone. Owain ran his fingers through his hair and then walked over to Leo, who was on the phone. The moment Owain got closer Leo softly finished his conversation and hung up. Owain adjusted his bag.

“Sorry about that. Lucina apologizes for whisking me away.”

Leo stared at Owain, his gaze sharp. Owain paused and swallowed feeling like he was being inspected. A beat passed before Leo spoke.

“Owain,” he softly said.

“Uh, yes?” Owain blinked. He had never heard Leo use his actual name. Did this mean he was mad at him?

Leo bit his lip before his shoulders slouched. “That was?”

“Oh, that was Lucina,” Owain supplied. “My cousin.”

“I see…” Leo muttered before he began to walk towards the cafe. Owain followed. “Her father is the one that runs The Shepherds?”

Oh. That’s what this was. Owain hadn’t had this happen in a while, but he never paraded his family’s name around. He didn’t think it was necessary to tell everyone, but at the same time he forgot that his family was somewhat famous. Perhaps that adjustment to the information was something Leo needed a moment to wrap his head around.

Owain winced. Most of his friends had been friends since childhood, and that issue was usually avoided. Until now.

“Yes, that’s my Uncle Chrom.” Owain then paused. “I didn’t mean to keep it a secret,” he started before he stopped again. That sounded arrogant.

“No, no, it’s fine,” Leo cut him off. “It’s not something one needs to shout on the rooftops.”

Owain was glad Leo understood. “Yeah…”

Was this it? Would Leo ask anything about the obvious elephant in the room?

“Tell me, have you ever helped out with The Shepherds?” Leo asked instead.

Owain blinked. He usually had the follow up question on his Aunt. This was pleasant and easy to talk about.

“Yes!” Owain brightly replied. “I’ve volunteered multiple times. Just a while ago Lucina and I volunteered to help build a greenhouse…”

Leo gave an encouraging smile. “Tell me more.”

And so Owain did, the worry over the news slipping his mind.

 

~

 

After answering some of Leo’s questions, their conversation slipped back to more familiar ground, mainly school and classes, though it did veer into more personal matters. Owain savoured all of the things Leo told him, such as his like of tomatoes and how his family sometimes ribbed him over it. In turn, Owain told a story about one of his teenage adventures involving Mrs. Stephan’s garden gnome, a water fountain, and the local stray cat, Mr. Whiskers. Some of the tension from his conversation with Lucina slipped away when Leo outright laughed. It was a warm and bright laugh.

Upon returning home, Owain cleaned up and started dinner. Owain mentally went over the work he had to do when his phone went off twice. Pulling his phone out, Owain saw the messages were from Lucina. Owain quickly read them.

 **Lucina:** _Sorry to bother. Have you phoned Aunt Emmeryn?_

 **Lucina:** _Sorry. I guess I’m very shaken._

Owain paused and his stomach twisted. Right. Lucina never was the one to overreact to anything except bugs. If she was shaken, Owain wasn’t going to put her down. Her feelings were legit, and Owain was on board with her. If he was honest, having a competitor to his Aunt’s highly public job suddenly be murdered felt very suspicious. He’d just been telling himself otherwise to keep himself from panicking too badly all day. His calls to his mother had gone to voicemail too. His mother’s _“Call you later”_ text was all he had to go off of at the moment. Calling his aunt had seemed a lost cause before now.

 **Owain:** _I will now. Sorry, I was preoccupied._

 **Lucina:** _My apologies. I know I can phone myself…_

 **Owain:** _No worries. When are you free?_

Lucina texted him some dates, and Owain decided to just see if he could set a meeting up with their aunt this week. Returning to cooking, Owain decided to eat before he gave a phone call. Aunt Emmeryn usually worked late anyways. Finishing cooking, Owain plated his food, went to the table, and sat down. Scrolling through his social media as he ate, Owain made a mental note to talk to Inigo and Severa. It had been far too long, and Owain wondered how they were doing. Hopefully everything was even better with them.

 

~

 

“Are you free this weekend?” Leo asked as soon as Owain sat down beside him.

Owain paused at the words but then shook his head. He had managed to get a hold of Aunt Emmeryn, and of course she was only free on the weekend. That in turn had Owain texting his parents and, at their enthusiastic request, he’d also agreed to visit them.

“Sorry, I’m going to visit my family,” Owain told Leo.

Leo paused and slightly frowned. “Ah. That’s fine.”

Owain titled his head. “Something wrong, Leo?”

“It’s…” Did Leo look down and flush? “My sister kept talking about a cafe that she demands everyone tries, and I was thinking…”

A new cafe? Owain perked up. That sounded like a fun hangout. He gave an apologetic grin. “I’m sorry. Not this weekend. However, we can always hang out there some other day.”

“Right.” Leo composed himself. “Next week. I’ll see if we’re free.”

“We’re” automatically filtered to “me and Niles,” and Owain found himself grinning. It would be nice to become friends with Leo’s boyfriend too.

“Just let me know when,” Owain said with a smile. “I’ll be free.”

 

~

 

If the fact Owain had been lying to himself about how suspicious and worrisome Magnus’s death really was hadn’t been obvious before, the realization hit him full force at dinner with his aunt.

Everyone had hugged when he and Lucina walked in—perhaps a bit tighter than they normally would have. Lucina didn’t say anything about Claude Magnus immediately, and Owain had almost wanted to clamp up as well after what felt like days of tiptoeing around his parents and extended family, trying not to jinx them. But after sharing a worried look with Lucina, Owain had to ask.

“About that Magnus—” he started.

His mother cut him off with a sigh. “I know. It’s been all your Uncle Chrom, Em, and I have been talking about for days.”

Except they hadn’t been talking to Lucina or Owain about it. Not since the one afternoon where Owain’s mother had confessed her worries to him, only to turn tight-lipped after that. Which meant—

Owain wasn’t sure.

“So—”

Lissa pinched his cheek, making Owain wince. She patted him to make up for it.

“We’ll talk about it over dinner, dear,” she said. “Now go set the table.”

So Owain had.

Dinner began as a mostly silent affair. Aunt Emmeryn said a few words about how thankful she was to have Owain and Lucina back again so soon, and Uncle Chrom and Owain’s mother agreed. Lucina kicked Owain under the table and sent him a look during her speech, but he wasn’t sure if that meant he should ask yet or keep his mouth shut, so he ended up not saying anything at all.

Things had gotten quiet after that. Owain had shoveled forkful after forkful of lasagna into his mouth and furiously wondered when anyone was going to speak up about the elephant in the room. His mother had said they’d talk about it over dinner, so he was waiting on her, but the wait was seriously getting to him.

Owain liked action movies. He liked explosions and clever villains and last minute rescue missions that barely got everyone out in time. He liked a good tragic backstory in any protagonist he looked for. And perhaps Owain wouldn’t have minded so much if he was the center of this Magnus saga. He’d always loved himself in the role of the hero.

But he wasn’t, and part of the reason Owain had failed to do anything besides privately worry about Claude Magnus before now was because this was _Aunt Emmeryn’s_ story. Maybe Uncle Chrom’s and his mother’s by extension too. But cool, collected heroes like Aunt Emmeryn and Uncle Chrom and Owain’s mother didn’t get rescued by their college-aged children who lived several cities over, who would never make it to the house in time to stage a last second rescue. Not unless it was a comedy and the heroes were being surprisingly saved by the joker character, that was.

And while Owain was self-aware enough to know he was occasionally the butt of the joke with his peers, he didn’t think that role was quite a fit for him. His family was too good for a comedy like that. And Owain would have almost been certainly cast as a grieving extra in any serious film he wasn’t starring in. So if a foolish part of him had hoped that following his family’s advice and leaving Claude Magnus alone would somehow protect them from unwittingly triggering a seriously bad chain of events, so be it.

And now Magnus was dead, which was, admittedly, a little scary.

So Owain was really hoping he was going to be told what to do next about that.

Eventually, Aunt Emmeryn set her fork aside and said, “I’m sure you already know, but Claude Magnus unfortunately passed recently.”

“But that wasn’t all,” Lucina said before Owain could jump in with his own questions. “He was murdered, wasn’t he?”

Aunt Emmeryn nodded, a small wrinkle of worry between her brows. “Yes. I’m afraid so.”

“So what does that mean for you?” Owain quickly asked. He looked around the table. “I know you told us not to worry, but…”

 _‘Wasn’t he literally trying to blackmail you?’_ Owain didn’t finish. Uncle Chrom had very heavily implied as much the last time they’d talked about Magnus as a family, at least. Owain only kept from saying so because he recalled how quickly Aunt Emmeryn had told Uncle Chrom to knock it off last time too. His mother had never said what she’d worried about specifically, but from the way she’d talked about Magnus…

Owain frowned even harder.

The specifics of what Magnus had been doing had never been divulged to Lucina and Owain. But considering Magnus was a guy who looked like the perfect image of any generic sleazy politician and he’d been found dead at a public event, it couldn’t have been above board.

“Yes,” Aunt Emmeryn agreed. “And while I am not happy with how these events have turned out, this truly is the end of that. Claude Magnus is out of our lives.”

She sounded genuinely regretful about it too.

“Why couldn’t you just tell us this earlier?” Lucina asked. Her frown was prominent. “I know I said I wasn’t going to bother you and Father about it too much, but I did ask about this before coming here. You never answered.”

“Yeah!” Owain added. “I stopped calling this week because I thought you’d say something if it was really important and I knew you were busy, but we were seriously worried!”

“You know we’re sorry about that,” Owain’s mother said. “But we’ve talked about this. Sully, myself, Chrom, Em—Everyone. From all angles. There is nothing for us to worry about. And even if there was, it would be our problem, not yours.”

Owain didn’t like that last part so much. His mother had confided in him before. Why not anymore?

“Don’t worry,” Owain’s mother continued. “I know there were some political whispers for a while there, but nothing will come of that. Nobody would ever believe your aunt was part of something so heinous. Nobody here is getting blamed or charged with anything.”

His mother was clearly assuring them that Aunt Emmeryn was in no danger of being arrested anytime soon, but Owain stared at her anyway. Until that moment, he hadn’t even considered Aunt Emmeryn being blamed a possibility.

As if sensing Owain’s surprise, Uncle Chrom coughed and said, “What Lissa means to say is that Magnus was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and this has nothing to do with us. So don’t get worked up about anything. Focus on your studies and your own lives.”

Lucina frowned worryingly. “Are you sure?”

“Is that really the end of it?” Owain said at the same time.

He caught Lucina’s eye across the table. The fact that in an alternate timeline Aunt Emmeryn could have somehow been blamed for Magnus’s death bounced around in his head.

“Yes, we’re sure,” Aunt Emmeryn said, speaking up again. “And whether that’s the end of Magnus’s business or not, this is the end of our involvement in it. This never should have been something for you two to worry about in the first place. Do not worry yourselves about myself or your parents. There is no danger for us. Focus on your studies, like Chrom said.”

Owain wanted to believe that. He really did. But after a week of forcing himself to worry as little as possible, the floodgates were now open and he couldn’t stop himself.

“You’re not worried about _anything_?” he stressed.

“Nothing important,” his mother said, which wasn’t a no. That didn’t make Owain feel much better.

Apparently Lucina wasn’t very sated either, because she said, “Isn’t it only right if you share some of your worries with us though? We _are_ adults.”

She seemed worried that Uncle Chrom didn’t think she was mature enough to handle whatever they were doing. Which was absurd, because Lucina had always been the maturest out of all of them.

Chrom said, “Luci, these are our careers. There’s always something to worry about. But almost never like this. Your aunt and I are not in any danger of meeting the same fate as Magnus. We don’t have the same associates. So don’t stress.”

When Lucina opened her mouth to continue, Chrom added, “You _are_ adults. In fact, you have your own lives. So don’t worry about what’s going on in ours when you have your own worries to attend to.”

“That’s exactly right,” Aunt Emmeryn agreed.

Owain looked as his mother. “But you bug me to tell you what’s going on in my life all the time!”

“I’m a mother,” she replied smugly. “That’s my privilege.”

“Aren’t families supposed to share?” Lucina tried again.

“Lucina, really, there’s nothing more going on,” Uncle Chrom said. “It’s all been taken care of already.”

Owain looked pleadingly at his mother, who said, “Owain, I share with you all the time. And if this were a bigger deal, I promise I’d tell you about it. But it’s not. We talked about what to do a few days ago, and it was decided your aunt would make a public statement expressing her condolences to Magnus’s family, and that was it. In fact, she already has. We’re not involved with him anymore. That’s really, truly the extent of it.”

That felt like the most solid answer Owain had received all night. He sat back in his chair. Across the table, Lucina looked thoughtfully at her plate.

He mulled over everyone’s answers in his head. Whatever Magnus had wanted before, Aunt Emmeryn hadn’t given in. And now he was dead. And because they hadn’t been involved before, Aunt Emmeryn still wasn't involved now that Magnus was dead. If that was the case, there really was nothing to worry about.

It felt like too simple a wrap-up, considering how much Lucina, and to a lesser extent, Owain, had been fretting about it. But maybe that was because it wasn’t really their story after all, like he’d thought. Aunt Emmeryn, Uncle Chrom, and Owain’s mother had really taken care of the exciting parts already. That was probably why Aunt Emmeryn hadn’t wanted Uncle Chrom to even mention the guy in the first place. It really never had been their worry to bear.

“Okay,” Lucina said first.

Owain looked up. Lucina looked more relaxed now than she had all day.

He nodded to himself. “Alright then. What else is new?”

 

~

 

The remainder of dinner was way more relaxed and delicious. Owain had never unwillingly skipped a meal, but he made sure to fill the spaces in his stomach now void of worry with more lasagna. Lucina even remembered to grab her tupperware before she left as well. It didn’t go unnoticed that Aunt Emmeryn had tucked some fresh looking cookies inside Lucina’s containers as well. Their aunt had gotten an extra hug for that.

Outside Aunt Emmeryn’s house, with the worry that had been gnawing at him all week gone and feeling pleasantly full, Owain remembered something he had nearly forgotten.

“Hey,” he said from the passenger seat in Lucina’s car. There was a _thump_ as Lucina closed her door and then looked at him. “That day you came up to me and Leo to talk about Magnus—”

“That guy you were with?” Lucina asked, her eyebrows crinkling.

“You know that wasn’t a date, right?” he finished. He’d tried to tell Lucina before, but she’d run away too quickly. Owain had almost forgotten until this moment, only remembering now that his other foremost worries were sated.

“Huh?” Lucina blinked, her hands resting on the steering wheel. “Oh, I think I remember now.”

Clearly Lucina had forgotten entirely. Owain felt a bit silly for bringing it up again until Lucina continued, “That wasn’t a date?”

“Uh, no,” Owain said.

“Oh, alright,” Lucina said easily, “I guess I feel better about interrupting now. Sorry for misunderstanding.”

Owain could have let it end there. Probably should have, actually. But the forgotten memory of that moment was now bubbling to the surface of his mind, and he couldn’t help but continue, scrunching his nose up in thought.

“Why’d you think it was a date anyway?” he asked. The sky was dark, and only the light shining through the windows of Aunt Emmeryn’s house illuminated Lucina’s face.

She hummed, looking ahead. “Hm. I guess I don’t really know.”

“Aw, really?” Owain said, feeling vaguely disappointed for some reason. “You can’t just assume stuff like that based off nothing!”

Who else was Lucina misjudging on the fly? How many rumors would his cousin start based on nothing like that?

Lucina shook her head.

“No, not on nothing. I guess…” She tapped her lip with her finger. “I guess it was probably the way you were looking at each other.”

“Huh?”

Lucina carried on, seemingly oblivious to the way Owain was now staring at her with utter confusion.

“Yeah, that was it,” she said to herself. “You were just looking at him like… like the way you look at new journals that look super old. Or like when you’re telling one of your dramatic stories. So I guess I just assumed that anybody who made you look like that, you had to be dating.”

She finished her assessment by looking to Owain for confirmation, but he was still staring at her with the most befuddled expression he could muster.

“I looked like what?” he said.

Lucina looked mildly taken aback. “Was I wrong again? Do you not even like that guy at all? Sorry. I guess I’m just not very good at reading the situation.”

“I guess not,” Owain agreed absently. He was still trying to wrap his mind around Lucina’s words. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, Leo is still my friend. But that’s all he is. A _friend_.”

“Sorry,” Lucina repeated. She looked honestly a little embarrassed. “Just ignore what I said then.”

But Owain couldn’t. “Did you say it was the way we looked at _each other_?”

Had Leo been looking at him in some way too? That is, in Lucina’s eyes.

A bit hesitant, Lucina said, “Yeah. It was… his body language, I guess? People usually angle their bodies toward the thing that’s most important to them in a room. And he just looked like he was giving you his full attention.”

She didn’t say anything for a moment.

“That’s it?” Owain hedged.

“Well…” Lucina’s mouth twisted with thought. “Yeah, I think so. It was just the feeling I got from him, I guess. From the way his face looked, you know? Plus the way _you_ looked. So I just assumed.”

“Sorry,” she said again, belatedly, after Owain took too long to speak.

Owain blinked himself back to reality. He cocked his head slightly, feeling a bit stiff.

“It’s alright,” he said. “I just wanted to be sure there was no misunderstanding here.”

Lucina’s fingers lingered on the keys in the ignition.

“Okay,” she said. She sounded like she was waiting for something more.

Owain didn’t know what else to offer her, so he blurted, “I don’t like Leo like that. And he has a boyfriend anyway. So.”

Which, even if Owain _did_ like Leo like that, he also liked how happy Niles and Leo looked with each other to ever wish they’d break up. Owain wasn’t _that_ mean. But Owain didn’t like Leo like that—nor Niles, since he was on the topic—so it wasn’t even an issue.

All of that was true, but for some reason Lucina’s words and Owain’s thoughts had caused a new feeling to bubble up in his chest.

It wasn’t worry. Owain had grown too used to that by now. It wasn’t anger or fear or any of those emotions. It wasn’t even quite confusion either. It was a very bubbly, strange feeling Owain couldn’t put a name to. And he was usually very good at naming things.

“Okay,” Lucina said again, sporting an unreadable look. She turned the key in the ignition, causing the car to roar to life. Owain jumped at the sudden light.

It felt like the silence had dragged on for too long, but Owain wasn’t sure how to drag his mind back to the world of the present moment now that it had slipped away somewhere else.

“Hey,” Lucina said brightly after too long had passed. They had pulled out of the driveway. “Aunt Emmeryn’s cookies look pretty good, right? Why don’t you tell me how they taste?”

“Sure,” Owain said, looking down at the box in his lap. Admittedly, he had been eyeing the cookies since Aunt Emmeryn had slipped them to Lucina.

He pulled one out and took a bite. They tasted like home.

Lucina turned on the radio, and Owain slipped her a cookie as she drove, contentedly munching on his own.

It had been a long, strange evening. But an informative one.

 

~

 

The first thing Niles did upon entering the coffee shop that Monday afternoon was burst through the door, point at Owain from across the room, and loudly announce, “Your name is Owain!”

Mouth full of chocolate eclair, Owain froze. Other patrons in the shop also stopped and stared.

In the doorway behind Niles, blocking a trio of friends that appeared to be trying to leave, Leo sighed.

Niles dropped his arm and walked over to Owain’s table. Leo followed behind him. The other customers in the shop went back to their own conversations.

“Your name is Owain,” Niles said again at a more reasonable volume.

Owain was unused to other people being the ones to draw attention to themselves in a crowd. There was also still eclair in his mouth. He swallowed.

“Yes?” he said. He had no idea where this was going.

True to what he’d said before, Owain hadn’t met up with either Leo or Niles that weekend. Visiting his family had only taken one evening, but Owain had other assignments to finish and he’d already told Leo he would be busy. It wasn’t until that Monday morning before class that Owain had gotten Leo’s message asking to hang out that afternoon. He hadn’t mentioned studying, but Owain had brought his books anyway.

It had been a decent few days since the last time Owain has seen Niles, but it had only been since Friday since he’d seen Leo. Both Niles and Leo had seemed just fine then. If Owain had done something to necessitate this much attention in public, he’d been too distracted to notice.

“Your name is Owain, and your aunt is the mayor of Ylisse,” Niles said. He pointed accusingly again.

Owain frowned. He’d told Leo all this already. They’d talked about it after Lucina came up to them after class that one day. Did Niles have a problem with Owain’s family that Leo had hidden until now?

He looked to Leo for help.

“What Niles means to say,” Leo sighed from behind Niles’s shoulder, “is that we owe you an apology.”

Owain had absolutely lost track of the conversation.

“An apology for what?” he asked.

Leo stared at him, expression incredulous. Owain looked to Niles for guidance, only to find Niles looking equally incredulous.

“Seriously?” Niles said as he and Leo both sat across the table. “You can’t be this dense.” Then he shook his head. “Actually, you know what? We’ve lost all privileges to make type of comment. If we’re that stupid, you can be too.”

Owain very much wanted to finish his snack, but he didn’t think absolute confusion was the best state to eat in.

“Owain,” Leo said slowly, “I’ve been calling you ‘Odin’ since the day we met.”

Owain blinked. That was what this was about?

He picked up the eclair again. “Yeah, so?”

Niles looked ready to tear his hair out. Owain took another bite of eclair.

“ _So_?” Leo said even more incredulously. “It doesn’t bother you that I’ve been getting your name _wrong_ all this time?”

Owain stilled, having barely finished swallowing his next bite of eclair in time. In his mind flashed countless scenes—the first time he introduced himself to Leo in class, all the times the three of them had hung out, the repetition of Odin, Odin, Odin.

“Ding, ding, ding,” Niles said under his breath.

“What?” Owain said. “You—I thought that was a nickname!”

Had Leo and Niles seriously been calling him “Odin” this whole time _accidentally_?

“What kind of nickname is _Odin_?” Niles said with disbelief as Odin continued, “I thought it meant you liked me!”

Leo’s cry of  “You never corrected me!” overlapped them both.

The three of them looked at each other.

“Well,” Niles said, breaking the silence, “this explains why we couldn’t find you on social media.”

Leo nudged Niles in the ribs with his elbow. Niles ignored him, looking at Owain only.

Owain hoped his disappointed didn’t show too badly on his face. All this time, and he’d thought—But no, it had been a mistake. Not a nickname at all. Just plain, old fashioned misheard words.

Anxiety crept up his spine. What else had Owain misinterpreted?

He could hear Severa’s flustered squawking and Inigo’s voice saying, “Wow, this one really takes the cake,” in his ear even now.

He tried to latch on the least embarrassing thing to say first, which was, “You tried to find me on social media? You could have just _asked_.”

“Yes, and it likely would have saved us a good deal of trouble,” Leo huffed. He didn’t seem mad at Owain, exactly, but Owain’s stomach was reeling too much to be sure of that. He didn’t even want to finish eating his snack. Leo wasn’t looking at him, at least.

Owain made an unintelligible noise. He still had no idea what to say.

Slumped in his seat, Niles looked significantly more defeated than he had moments ago. He leaned back in his char with his arms crossed. It was his turn to let Leo take the lead.

“Anyway, I owe you an apology,” Leo said, looking very seriously at Owain. “I’m the one who mislead Niles about your name, so don’t blame him. I was the one who didn’t listen. And from this, combined with the way I acted early on in our friendship, I’m sure you might be having some doubts right now.”

“I’m… _surprised_ ,” Owain said after finding his tongue again. He didn’t know what things “early on in our friendship” Leo was referencing, but considering how oblivious he’d apparently been to the name thing, he was a little scared to think on it too hard.

Leo nodded. “I just want you to know that we’re both very sorry—myself especially—and I’ll be making it a point to call you by your real name in the future. In return, _please_ tell me if I ever do anything like this again. This shouldn’t have gone on this long.”

He sounded genuine and looked just as apologetic.

A beat passed before Owain realized they were waiting on his reply.

“Uh.” He mentally scrambled for solid ground again. “Apology accepted?”

“That sounds like a question,” Niles pointed out.

Leo looked even more abashed.

“You don’t have to forgive me right now,” he said, and he sounded abashed too. “Or ever. I should have told you this as soon as I realized my mistake, but I was so embarrassed I went to Niles first. That’s why I wanted to meet this weekend instead of today. So if you need time to think on it—”

It looked like Leo and Niles were getting ready to stand up, so Owain said, “Wait.”

They sat back down. Owain licked his lips, trying to think quickly.

“We’re still friends, right?” he asked.

Niles and Leo both appeared taken aback by the question. Niles laughed. His foot nudged Owain’s under the table, and Owain relaxed very marginally.

“Yes, of course,” Leo said with some surprise.

It took Owain looking at Niles too before Niles—somehow looking surprised again—smirked and said, “If that’s what you want after a blunder like this.”

Owain nodded. He rolled his shoulder.

“In that case,” he said slowly, “I actually liked the nickname. So I probably never would have noticed if you hadn’t said anything about it. And if you wanted to keep calling me Odin, I wouldn’t mind.”

“Really?” Leo said as Niles quietly murmured, “Well, how about that?” to himself.

Leo said, “Even though—”

Owain shrugged, palms up. He snatched the last of his eclair off his plate and shoveled it into his mouth.

“Like I said, I like it,” he said, and that was the truth. “I doubt you could have picked a better name to mishear my own as besides that.”

“Odin,” Niles said.

The use of his nickname—now a _real_ nickname—made both Owain and Leo jump, but Owain made sure to smile at him for it. Niles smirked a little back.

Taking that as permission, Leo nodded again.

“Odin,” he said. “Thank you.”

Owain took a sip of his water. This past week had been full of strange surprises and news. He really hadn’t expected to have a conversation like this today.

But, he considered, he seemed to keep finding himself in the best outcomes by far.

Niles bumped his shoulder into Leo’s, and Owain told his eyes not to linger.

“If this is all fun and games now, then you should know Leo here is the talk of the family now,” Niles said. “The cleverest sibling got his one friend’s name wrong for months.”

Leo sputtered, his face turning tomato red. “Please don’t bring that up. I get enough of it in the house.”

“ _Oh, Leo, are you sure that’s the right name?_ ” Niles mimicked an unfamiliar person’s voice. _“Because I_ really _doubt that_ —”

“I know,” Leo groaned. “We had his name wrong.”

“ _You_ had his name wrong,” Niles corrected.

Owain—feeling better and less like had been hit out of left field with every passing minute—laughed.

And after a second of staring, Niles and Leo laughed too.

 

~

 

They didn’t do any studying, so in retrospect Owain had lugged his books around for no reason. However, that small inconvenience was all but forgotten once they moved past Niles and Leo’s apology. Instead, they talked about normal things, things outside of school. Leo and Niles asked Owain about his weekend, to which Owain answered as directly as he could. Even if Claude Magnus’s death was publicized, there was no need to bring up personal doubts and turn the conversation sombre. In turn, Leo and Niles told Owain about their weekend, which sounded relaxing.

It was only after they parted, Leo and Niles waving their farewells, that Owain was hit once again with how surreal their meeting was. The entire point was slightly weird; Leo could have just apologized before or after class. However, Owain appreciated the honesty from both of them. It took a lot of courage to admit a mistake, especially a personal mistake. Leo and Niles had clearly felt the blunder was worth a formal apology, and Owain wasn’t one to judge their decision. In the end, they felt better with their honesty, and Owain was happy they were honest with him. Plus, “Odin” was now his official nickname, not a mistaken nickname, and that buzz carried Owain through the rest of the day.

 

~

 

The next day in class, Leo was waiting for Owain in the lecture hall, a seat clearly saved for him and a cup of coffee at his elbow. He was texting as Owain walked up, so Owain kept quiet, settling down silently before Leo put his phone down and smiled.

“Good morning, Odin,” Leo greeted.

The sound of his official nickname was going to cause Owain to beam for the rest of the week. The swell in his heart was almost too hot to contain.

“Greetings on this fine morn, Leo. How has the day greeted your being?”

Leo gave a small smile, filled with amusement. “It has greeted me fine. Yourself?”

“It has been a glorious morn with my mind conscious before the chime of waking wailed in my ears,” Owain proclaimed. He was very proud. Beating alarm clocks should be a life goal.

“Sounds better than me,” Leo mused. Before Owain could ask for clarification, Leo continued. “I was just texting Niles. Are you free this weekend? I’d like to try out that cafe I mentioned earlier.”

Right. Owain nodded to himself, remembering that conversation. Now that he didn’t have any plans to visit his family, Owain was sure he had the time. Plus, with all the studying he had done with Leo and Niles, Owain figured he deserved a bit of indulgence. Cafes meant coffee and desserts.

“I should be free, bar no unexpected quest or task pops up in my immediate future.”

Leo nodded to himself before pulling his phone out. “I’ll text Niles and we can decide on a day and time. Any time you prefer?”

 _“As long as I get to hang out with you”_ was on the tip of Owain’s tongue, before he swallowed it whole. Sure, just because he hadn’t had the chance to just hang out with Leo and Niles without studying didn’t mean he had to be sappy. Instead, Owain responded normally.

“Anytime is fine,” Owain confirmed.

“Excellent,” Leo half muttered as he began to text Niles again.

Owain almost asked Leo, as the thought suddenly appeared in his head, for Niles’s number, but then held it. Perhaps Niles didn’t want Owain to have his number. It also wasn’t up to Leo to give it to Owain, but Niles himself. Owain made a mental note to ask when they hung out again. Asking, as his mother always said, never hurt anyone.

 

~

 

That evening, after laundry and homework, Owain lay sprawled on his bed, propped up with a pillow, staring at his phone. The message regarding the details to his cafe outing with Leo and Niles sat neatly in front of him. Owain scanned the information before humming and copying it, pasting it into his search bar. It took a moment for his phone to load the location, but once it did, Owain checked the cafe and noted the lack of parking. Either he drove and parked far away or he took public transport. Checking the bus routes, Owain was in the process of seeing which one was the closest and fastest when his phone chimed.

 **Niles** : _We’ll pick you up. The cafe’s parking can be a bit of a tight fit._

Owain stared. Did Niles have psychic abilities? It was a possibility Owain couldn’t entirely dismiss. People were full of surprises. Typing out a quick response to Niles (stating that was all right if they didn’t mind the effort), Owain then looked at his other messages. Severa, he’d texted a little recently, but it had been a while since Owain had messaged Inigo or their group chat. For a second, Owain’s finger hovered over their group chat, before he shook his head and exited the app. He’d tell them all about his new friends later, preferably in person. Rolling onto his side, Owain then pulled up some random DIY videos. His homework was complete and with all the stress of the past week Owain wanted a moment to shut his brain off.

 

~

 

Niles and Leo were exactly on time to pick Owain up, just outside of his apartment building. Owain couldn’t remember if the car they were using was the same one Niles had used when picking Leo up from their first library study session. Regardless, the car was nice, newer than Owain’s, and Owain wanted to be extra careful. Gingerly getting inside, Owain flashed a smile to Leo and Niles. Niles was in the passenger’s seat and he lazily waved, some leather bracelets softly flashing on his wrist. Leo fully turned around despite being at the wheel to greet him. Owain noted the red button up shirt, crisply ironed. It looked nice.

“Wow, that’s a nice shirt,” Owain blurted out before his brain to mouth filter worked (to be fair, his brain to mouth filter was usually shut down).

“Thank you,” Leo sounded a bit flustered. “I was at the office this morning. I didn't change.”

“The office?” Owain asked.

“The family’s business,” Leo answered. “I had a bit of paperwork I left undone. I hate leaving loose ends.”

Niles hummed, and Leo started driving. Owain felt like he was missing something. Shrugging, Owain didn’t press further. If it was a family run business, then there were probably many financial and legal things Leo couldn’t disclose. Besides, Owain wasn’t hanging out with Leo to grill him about his family. He was hanging out because they were friends and their destination was the cafe Leo had suggested.

After Owain had finished his DIY videos, he had taken a little bit of time to actually research the cafe. It turned out that the cafe had a website and with all of the desserts advertised, Owain was more than ready to order all of the menu. His wallet was silently protesting, but Owain ignored it. He rarely treated himself, and gorging himself on sweets seemed like a great option.

“I checked the website out,” Owain told Niles and Leo. “I’m so glad you suggested it.”

“It came with high recommendations,” Leo replied. “I’m also looking forward to it.”

“I hope you brought your appetite.” Niles winked, a smirk on his face. “We were told those sweets will really fill you up.”

As Owain suspected based on the type of desserts the cafe advertised making.

“I’m prepared,” Owain solemnly stated, adding in a nod. “I’m prepared for this baked sweets challenge.”

Niles choked a laugh back and Owain saw Leo crack a smile. “Any particular desserts you’re interested in having?” Leo asked.

Owain tried to think. There were so many on the list that he wanted to try. His heart said everything, but his brain was rational and quickly selected one. “The triple chocolate peanut butter mousse cake.”

Was it just Owain, or did Leo cough at that? However, before he could confirm, Niles laughed and his eye twinkled. “So you’re into creamy, rich desserts with nuts, huh, Odin?”

Leo was definitely coughing. Was Owain missing something? He blinked. “Well, I figured if we’re going to a cafe I might as well try something I don’t get often.”

“Ah, that makes sense. You’re the sort of person to seize an opportunity if it brings you pleasure.” Niles said.

Leo’s face was red. Owain blinked. Was Leo fine to drive? Owain opened his mouth to voice his concern, but then Leo turned and they were at the cafe. By some miracle, there was an empty parking space for them. Leo parked neatly and perfectly. Owain practically bounced out of the car the moment the engine was cut. He waited patiently for Niles and Leo instead. The two of them walked close to each other, side by side. Owain smiled. It was cute.

Inside the cafe were small tables and beautiful flower arrangements and decor. It was warm, with some books lining one side and with the rich wood, it felt earthy and homey. Owain stared up at the chalkboard, reading the coffee options. He didn’t need to look at the glass display filled with desserts just yet. Owain’s dessert was already picked out. He just needed to figure out what kind of coffee he’d be ordering.

“Know what you want?” Niles was close to Owain, and suddenly Owain felt a warm arm around his shoulder.

He froze. Niles was touching him, casually, just threw his arm around Owain’s shoulder. Sure, Niles wasn’t leaning too heavy on Owain, and Owain was sure if he wanted to escape Niles wouldn’t stop him or be offended. However, casual touches were what friends did. Owain did that with Inigo and Severa all the time. This was Niles testing to see how close in their friendship they were at. So, Owain relaxed, barely a fraction of a second later, and didn’t move. Besides, Niles was warm and smelt like smoked spices and cinnamon.

“I think their spiced caramel coffee sounds delicious,” Leo said a moment later, close to Owain, their hands practically touching. “That’s what I want.”

“That sounds sweet,” Niles muttered. “You’re not usually going for that. Trying something out of your comfort zone?”

“I am,” Leo flushed a little. “What about you, Odin?”

“I always like trying things out of my comfort zone.” Niles answered regardless of the fact the question wasn’t directed at him.

Owain laughed. “This is all about trying new things. I’ll try their hazelnut cream coffee.”

Leo nodded and then looked around. “However, this is a small place. Why don’t you grab a table before they’re full?”

Owain wanted to point out that the place wasn’t too busy, but if it was suddenly busy they’d regret it. He moved, almost reluctant to escape Niles’s warmth, but to Owain’s surprise Niles followed him, pointing to a table near the bookshelf, tucked in a corner.

“Leo will like it here,” Niles said.

Owain had to agree. He had noticed during their study sessions in public places Leo picked tables out of the way. Plus, there was a bookshelf. Maybe Leo would check out what was on it. Setting his bag down, Owain turned to return to the line when he saw Leo talking with the cashier already. Then, Niles tugged his hand, gently touching it, and gestured for Owain to sit.

“We got this,” he said.

It took Owain a solid minute to realize what he meant. Then, Owain’s brain stopped. “You’re buying my coffee?”

“And your dessert.” Niles replied.

“You didn’t have to.” Owain flushed. “I could…”

“Ah,” Niles gently smiled and tugged Owain to sit down, finger hovering over his own lips. “Don’t speak against a gift, Owain. It can result in unfavourable situations.”

With the glow of the cafe and the smile on Niles’s face, he looked almost impish, like a young boy gleefully parting wisdom when least expected. Owain swallowed and numbly nodded before he bounced back. That was just one of the many aspects that added to Niles’s cool factor.

“Then, I graciously accept this gift of desserts and coffee that you and Leo have bestowed upon my mortal form,” Owain replied.

Niles chuckled and a second later Leo appeared, plopping down beside Niles. “She said they’ll bring our order to our table.”

“Thank you for purchasing my dessert and coffee,” Owain immediately repeated for Leo. “I am most thankful.”

“It’s not a problem,” Leo answered. “We’re more than happy to.”

“Next time I’ll pay for you two,” Owain then said because his mother always told him to never leave a favour unreturned.

“Oh, next time he says.” Niles eyed Owain before giving a wink. “I’ll keep that in mind. I always check in my favours.”

Leo coughed once again, and Owain was seriously worried that he was under the weather. However, that all faded when their order arrived. Owain sipped his immediately and was delighted in the subtle hazelnut taste and sweetness of the drink. His dessert also towered in a layer of dark chocolate, milk chocolate, and peanut butter. The top had whipped cream that looked homemade with chocolate curls on top. Owain immediately took a picture and sent it to Inigo and Severa just for the gloating rights, before carefully digging in. The bottom was made out of graham crumbs and that added to the dessert’s quality by twenty points.

“Mmm.” Owain moaned into his spoon. “So good…”

There was a beat of silence that Owain assumed was from Leo and Niles trying their own desserts, but Owain didn’t get a chance to look. Niles spoke a second later, his voice low.

“You’re sure enjoying yourself,” Niles said. “Is it easy to please you?”

“Oh yes.” Owain took the spoon out of his mouth and took more of the cake. “Give me chocolate and I’m always happy.”

“Noted.”

Niles said that with a tone that hinted at something, but Owain was too busy eating his cake to pick up whatever it was. If it was important, Niles and Leo didn’t bring it up.

 

~

 

“I thought that’s what you wanted, considering you really let him have it with that fight,” Owain said into the phone.

Several weeks after eating dessert with Niles and Leo, Owain found himself sitting on a park bench, sweating slightly under the summer sun. An easy breeze blew through the leaves overhead. He was dimly aware of others walking in groups or by themselves through the park, but mainly his focus was on Inigo.

The past several weeks had been filled with Niles, Leo, and class. Owain had seen Severa and Inigo a few times, but not as often as he had seen Leo and Niles. They had all been rather busy this summer, it had seemed. But now the summer was beginning to wind down to a close. There were only a few short weeks before the fall semester began. Owain would be picking out classes again soon.

As exciting as the start of the summer had been, Owain was happy that nothing _too_ exciting had come from it all. Nothing more exciting than his newfound friendship with Niles and Leo, that was. The memory of Claude Magnus had all but faded in Owain’s mind. His father was back from working with his uncle Basilio, Aunt Emmeryn and Uncle Chrom seemed to be occupied with bigger and better things with Lucina in tow, and Owain’s mother sounded as chipper as ever when he called. Owain saw Niles and Leo on the regular despite Niles not sharing class with them, and he saw Severa and Inigo when he could. Class aside, the past few weeks had been good.

Inigo had surprised him with the sudden call, and Owain took a detour in his aimless walk to sit down and listen to his friend’s woes. Inigo had just finished describing his various worries about meeting his boyfriend’s family. He’d also rehashed some of the details of their recent strain again, some of which Owain had known and some of which he hadn’t.

Whatever stress Inigo and his boyfriend had been going through, however, Owain thought this type of stress was much more preferable. Meeting a significant other’s family was a big step, after all.

Still, he knew Inigo was the type to make a mountain out of a molehill.

 _“It is!”_ Inigo said in Owain’s ear. _“But what if I don’t make a good impression?”_

“Who cares about impressive?” Owain said, setting aside the fact he usually cared a lot about impressive things because he knew Inigo didn’t. “You make Xander happy, right? Who cares about the rest?”

As long as it was obvious that Inigo and his boyfriend made each other happy—and it was to Owain, considering how often Inigo gushed about him and Owain hadn’t even met the guy yet—then it would work out. Any reasonable family would support them, even if Inigo fell on his face at their front step.

 _“I do!”_ Inigo protested. _“_ _He’s a businessman! They’re all businessmen! They all have steady jobs! And I—I dance.”_

“You do more than dance, man. You paint a story without words.”

 _“Thanks,”_ Inigo said. _“But that doesn’t help the fact I work part time at a costume shop when I don’t get the audition. I’m not even the lead most of the time.”_

Owain didn’t care much about status or traditional jobs most of the time, but Inigo had been born with a sense of insecurity around everything he did that he’d never seemed able to shake.

“You kind of have been lately,” Owain pointed out. “Or did you get so caught up in your big romance that you forgot that part?”

Inigo hummed despairingly into the phone.

“Okay, so you’ve gotten a few supporting parts,” Owain admitted. “But for the past few months, you’ve also gotten a lot of leads too. You’re not a big name yet, but so what? You’ll get there. Woo Xander’s family with your personal skills. If they love Xander and want him to be happy, they’ll probably like you too.”

Owain waited. He heard Inigo let out a shaky breath over the line. He also heard a distant buzz. It was likely Inigo getting a text.

 _“Thanks,”_ Inigo said. _“I have to go now, but I appreciate the help.”_

“Be confident!” Owain reminded him. “Let me know how it goes!”

Inigo chuckled nervously. _“I will.”_

They said their goodbyes and hung up. Owain stuffed his phone back in his pocket and considered what to do.

The sun was high overhead, and Owain didn’t have much planned for the day. He was ahead on all his school work except for studying, and he’d had enough of that for the morning. Owain had left the house to stretch his legs, but he wasn’t sure where he could go besides back home. He wanted to stretch his legs some more.

Owain ended up leaving the park and walking down a side street, planning to windowshop until something good caught his eye. Nothing did. He walked for so long that his stomach eventually began to growl, however, at which point Owain found himself in a small sandwich shop he’d picked at random. A quick glance at the menu told him the prices were fairly cheap, so he took a moment to step back and think about what he wanted. A moment later, he felt someone come up beside him.

“First time here?” someone asked.

He turned his head and found a guy around his age standing beside him. The man was clean cut, wore a sleek looking jacket despite the heat, and didn’t seem to be anybody Owain recognized. Owain wondered if he worked at the shop, but considering the lack of name tag, it didn’t seem likely.

“That obvious?” Owain asked, smiling politely.

The man shrugged and smiled pleasantly. “Not really. I just come here pretty regularly and haven’t seen you before. Thought you looked like somebody I’d want to get to know.”

He brushed his shoulder with Owain’s gently but deliberately. The man’s eyes flickered down Owain’s body before coming back to his face.

Owain blinked. He wasn’t used to people coming up to him because _Owain_ looked like the interesting one—usually it was the other way around—but he wasn’t going to complain about it. The man seemed nice enough.

“Aw, thanks,” Owain said sincerely. “What’s your name?”

Looking satisfied, the man held out his hand for a handshake. “It’s—”

Somebody brushed between them as Owain raised his own hand. Owain and his newfound friend were both forced to take a step back, and by the time Owain registered who had suddenly appeared, Niles had already settled an arm around his shoulders.

“Well, well, well,” Niles said, giving Owain a sideways glance before settling on the man with a stare. “What do we have here?”

“Niles?” Owain said, surprised. “What are you doing here?”

Niles replied without looking at him. “I happened to be running a few errands of my own when I saw you come in here. Thought I might join you for a late lunch, but it looks like you already found yourself some company.”

Niles was smiling at Owain’s newfound friend and had been since he’d suddenly joined the conversation. The man took another step back.

The weight of Niles’s arm around Owain’s shoulders was beginning to weigh on Owain strangely, though not unpleasantly. He didn’t think Niles had ever been so touchy with him before. He liked it.

“Who’s your friend?” Niles asked before anyone else could speak up.

Owain glanced over to the man, whose introduction had been interrupted by Niles’s arrival. “He’s—”

“Leaving,” the man finished. His mouth had formed a flat line. “Sorry, I didn’t realize—you know.”

He stuffed his hands into his jacket pockets and shrugged.

Owain, who did not know what the man had just realized but did not want his ignorance to be obvious, said, “Uh, it’s fine.”

“Mistakes happen,” Niles said pleasantly. This close, Owain caught a whiff of Niles’s shampoo. It suited him.

Tight lipped, the man nodded again and retreated back to his small table in the back of the shop without a goodbye.

“So,” Niles said when the man was gone, still not moving his arm from around Owain, “into men, are you?”

For the first time in what felt like forever, Niles looked at Owain. He wore a knowing look.

Owain had been feeling as though he’d failed to pick up on something terribly important for the last several minutes, and that feeling did not change now.

“Huh?”

“No?” Niles lifted his chin curiously. “Am I wrong? Don’t you have a type then? You seemed like you would.”

“Type?” Owain repeated.

He spoke so quickly that it was hard for even Owain to keep up, and the subject had shifted so suddenly that he wasn’t quite sure what Niles was talking about in the first place. Owain answered anyway, sure he had told Niles all this before.

Owain blinked and said, “I like anyone who’s cool.”

“Cool?” Niles echoed. His arm shifted around Owain’s shoulders. “In what way?”

Owain shrugged. “Any way, I guess. If someone’s cool, I want to be their friend. Like you and Leo, for example. I told you this before, didn’t I?”

It sure felt like Owain had. Then again, that afternoon where Niles sat in his bedroom while they waited for Leo to arrive also felt like lifetimes ago at this point.

“Like me and Leo, huh,” Niles repeated under his breath. He nodded like that confirmed something for him. Owain wondered if he’d accidentally given Niles the wrong idea about something.

“Well, I guess some of my friends are a little lame,” Owain amended. He was thinking of Inigo, mostly, but even Inigo had his moments of coolness too. “But yeah. Cool people are the most appealing to me. Don’t you think so?”

“Hm.”

Owain was going to goad Niles into answering the question directly when Niles squeezed his shoulder and said, “It’s your turn to order.”

Owain’s head jerked toward the register. It really was his turn.

They walked up to the register side by side, and Niles didn’t drop his arm from around Owain’s shoulders until after they both had placed their orders.

The man who tried to talk to Owain before didn’t approach them again, which was a little strange, but Niles stayed the whole time and even dropped Owain off at his apartment after they were both finished with their sandwiches, so Owain considered it an afternoon well spent.

That evening Inigo texted him a dozen exclamation points and told Owain with clear relief that his meeting the family had gone over well too, just like Owain knew it would. Owain considered it a double win.

 

~

 

It was rare for Severa to seek advice, but Owain somehow found himself in the Brewsters cafe, sitting on a bean bag, listening to Severa fret and worry over her Makeup Girl. As Severa tried to sort out giving her number or not, Owain did his best to assist his long time friend. Severa hadn’t dated too many people before, so hearing her sound so invested made Owain feel it was a serious affair. He hoped it all worked out. With first Inigo and now suddenly Severa invested in the more romantic aspects of their lives recently, Owain felt the world shifting beneath his feet in more ways than one.

Once things felt sorted, Owain ordered another cup of coffee and relaxed in silence with Severa, letting her process her thoughts, when she suddenly spoke.

“So, uh, how are your classes going? What about that blond boy?”

Owain perked up. “Classes are going well! As for my newfound friend. I feel we’ve breached the barriers and walls that are attempting to hinder our friendship. A true companionship has blossomed and spilled into the air uncontrollably. I think only fortune and companionship will continue to spring forth.”

Severa gave one of her looks, like she was seriously regretting asking before she took a sip of her own drink.

“Well, I’m glad at least one of us has our lives in gear,” she mumbled into her cup.

Owain took a sip of his own coffee and patted her back. “Don’t worry. I have a feeling that things will go well for us.”

“Is that a prediction, Mr. Seer?”

“Yes,” Owain confidently replied. “It is.”

 

~

 

August rushed in with a burst of hot air that mixed with the sultry tones of the ocean, leaving everything humid. Owain’s neck was sweating within moments of going outside and wearing anything besides shorts, a thin shirt or tank top, and sandals would result in overheating immediately. Owain had taken to drinking more water (as Lucina always said was good and Severa always scolded Owain for not drinking enough. “It hydrates the skin” she always would snap before throwing water bottles at Owain and Inigo’s heads) and getting iced drinks before classes.

When morning hit and Owain had to rush to his classes, he made sure his water bottle was filled with nothing but ice (it would melt during the day) before rushing out. The sun was already starting to peek out from the clouds and Owain knew that within the hour it would be hot. Jogging to his bus stop, Owain kept mostly in the shade. When his bus came, Owain made sure to stand on the non sunny side and tuned out the familiar lull of public transport.

Arriving to campus, Owain then bee lined to his classes, also keeping in the shade. With August hitting the campus was swelling with anticipation for final exams. Owain had done a brief glanced at the library’s schedule for booking private rooms and it was booked solid. Not that it mattered. It seemed Leo was becoming more and more open with studying anywhere, not just libraries. Making a note to ask Leo about their plans for final exams, Owain entered the classroom, surprised to see he was there before Leo.

Sitting down, Owain began to unpack his things, humming softly under his breath. He couldn’t remember where or when he had heard the tune, but it was floating around his head, unable to escape. Owain made another mental note to figure out the song’s title. For now he would concentrate on lectures and savour the glorious AC and lack of bodies adding heat to the room.

The door then opened and Leo walked in, his hair smooth, his bag neatly over his shoulders, his pants clean and pressed (how Leo was wearing pants was beyond Owain). However, despite that, there was hurried air around him, a tension slowly curling out and snaking around Leo’s body. Owain could see the tension around Leo’s shoulders. Then, Leo sat beside him and before Owain could greet him, he saw.

“Leo, your collar is inside out.” Owain reached out and touched the collar.

Leo froze and Owain watched as a pink slowly crept up his cheeks and to his ears. He then coughed and reached up, touching where Owain’s fingers were, feeling the fabric and Owain’s fingers.

“Damn it.” Leo softly cussed. “I have time before class, right?” He didn’t wait for Owain’s response. Leo stood up. “Sorry. I’ll… be back.”

“I’ll guard your stuff with my life.” Owain called out as Leo exited the room.

Deciding to be a good friend, Owain carefully moved Leo’s bag neatly to the side and waited. Leo returned a few minutes later, his shirt’s collar fixed. He sat down and dug into his bag.

“Thanks for noticing Odin.” Leo set his tablet on the table. “I had a rushed morning and late night.”

“Stress from anticipation for our final boss.” Owain summed up.

“Final boss… you mean our exams?” Leo easily translated with a soft smile. “Yeah, something like that. Time always flies by.”

Owain nodded. “I checked the library’s schedule for private studying rooms and it’s already booked up.”

“The campus offers many summer programs and classes.” Leo muttered. “That’s fine. I’ll ask Niles when he’s free to help us out with studying.”

Owain perked up. He hadn’t seen Niles since their accidental run in at the sandwich shop. “I look forward to our gathering in order to establish our knowledge.”

Leo snorted but then stretched, groaning a bit, twisting his neck. “Sorry. I fell asleep at the computer for a bit last night. Then I was reading in bed.”

That explained the tension Owain was spotting along Leo’s shoulders. Awkward sleeping angles was the worst. With the way Leo was stretching it was clear he needed a massage. Luckily for Leo, Owain was decent at those. Without another thought, Owain moved his chair a little bit and angled himself so he was able to access Leo’s shoulders. Digging into his bag, Owain procured some hand lotion Severa had thrown at him once upon a time. It was a scent that was out of season and if Severa saw him using it she would be mortified, but Owain always liked fall smells and it was practically autumn. Putting a bit on his hands, Owain made sure they were soft, but not drenched in lotion before touching Leo’s shoulders with ease.

“Say no more.” Owain proclaimed. “We are early and there is time. I can give you a shoulder massage.”

Leo didn’t pull away from Owain’s touch, though he straightened his back. “Odin?”

“My mother and father have very physically demanding jobs. I grew up learning some tricks with massages.” Owain explained. “If you don’t mind?”

Leo wasn’t pulling away so Owain took it as a positive sign. Running his fingers firmly and smoothly over Leo’s shoulders, Owain pressed and massaged, easily working through some of the knots. Gently, Owain made sure to run all the way around, not just where the tension was, and made sure he wasn’t hurting Leo.

“Oh wow.” Leo muttered out. “You’re good.”

“Thank you.”

Owain smiled and continued his work, smoothly working over Leo’s neck and the skin. It was turning a bit pink from the light rubbing, but the tension was slowly ebbing away from Leo’s shoulders. Owain continued even when their fellow classmates entered and started to seat themselves. He continued even when the professor came in. It was only when the lecture started that Owain let go slowly and turned himself around.

“Does that feel better?” Owain asked.

“Yes, it does. Thank you Odin.” Leo replied.

As Owain opened his notebook to start writing the notes, he heard a few girls in the back whisper and he caught something about “being obvious”. Owain frowned and almost turned around to tell them to stop talking about whatever it was they were talking about, but he had notes to copy down, so he ignored them.

 

~

 

“So, Leo tells me you’re good with your hands.”

Niles slung his arm over Owain’s shoulder, nearly causing him to stumble with the sudden weight. Owain immediately adjusted and looked at the silver haired man. It was only a couple days after he had given Leo a massage in class. Class had ended for the day and Owain wasn’t expecting Niles to be on campus, but here he was, arm slung over Owain’s shoulders while Leo stood off the side, biting his lip, texting.

“Uh yes?” Owain tried to find his train of thought. “Leo told me he fell asleep at awkward angles and I decided to help. I picked up massage tips from my mother and father over the years. Stress from finals and studying can cause all sorts of strain.”

Niles hummed. “It can. It’s been a stressful time.”

For some reason Owain had the feeling that Niles was alluding to something else, but before Owain could investigate further, Leo approached them, his phone tucked away. Upon seeing Leo, Niles tugged him closer, arm linked around Leo’s middle. Owain smiled at the small yelp from Leo’s lips as they formed a line. It reminded Owain of being a kid and not wanting to let go of friends which always resulted in taking up the entire space on the sidewalks.

“Welcome back to the conversation, Leo.” Niles grinned.

“Hello Niles.” Leo responded. “You came early.”

“I did?” Niles blinked. “I’ve never had that problem before. Are you unsatisfied with my performance?”

Leo spluttered. “There is a difference in punctuality and being early.”

“Are you saying I don’t know the difference?” Niles asked. “Are you going to teach me what that difference is?”

Leo coughed and elbowed Niles. Owain just laughed at their banter. “Leo has a point Niles, you are rather early. Leo has another class.”

“I’m aware.” Niles drawled and turned his head to Owain. “I simply finished all my errands and decided to catch you two and say hello.”

Owain smiled at the gesture. If that Niles’s way of saying he was bored it was rather cute. “So, now that you’ve completed that quest, what other journey will you partake in?”

Niles stared at Owain for a little bit. “Well, you don’t have class and it’s hot outside. I say we go on ice cream quest.”

Now that was a great plan. Owain perked up. “Ice cream sounds great! I know of a shop around here that sells like a thousand flavours.”

“Oh?” Niles let go of Leo so he could properly turn Owain around, arm still around his shoulder. “You’ll kill time with me and eat ice cream?”

“What can I say?” Owain laughed. “I like ice cream and hanging out with you.”

Silence filled the space between them for a little while. Owain caught something on their faces that flitted away a second later. Niles then turned Owain around and waved Leo goodbye.

“I’ll text you the spot we end up at.” Niles told Leo. “Have fun in class, Leo.”

“I will.” Leo lightly touched Niles’s shoulder and then Owain’s arm. “I’ll see you two later.”

He then walked off to his class. Owain watched for a second before Niles pressed closer to Owain.

“So, where is this ice cream shop?”

“It’s this way.”

Owain lead them through the crowds and the campus. As they walked, Owain noticed that Niles hadn’t taken his arm off. The weight was warm and added to the summer heat, but Owain didn’t care. It was nice, the casual intimacy between friends. A few people eyed them as they walked, but Owain figured it was due to their mysterious auras.

The ice cream shop was nestled between two buildings and was white. Inside the floors were dark hardwood and the walls had photos of the place over the years. There was even a jukebox in the corner. In front were all the coolers with the ice cream displayed. Owain nearly ran off and press his face against the coolers, like he when he was a child.

“What flavour do you want?” Owain asked. “My treat.”

“You’re buying for me?” Niles mused.

“You and Leo bought me dessert last time.” Owain reminded him. “So, allow me.”

“If you insist.”

After ordering, they took a seat in the corner, by the window. Owain had a waffle cone with at least three scoops of different kinds of ice cream and Niles had taken a more traditional route with a bowl and one flavour of ice cream.

“This is good.” Niles commented. “I’ve never seen so many flavours of ice cream in one location.”

“I know, right?” Owain looked up from his cone, grinning. “I accidentally found this place a year or so ago.”

Niles set his spoon down and reached over, touching Owain’s nose. “Sit still.”

“Oops.” Owain flushed. “Ice cream?”

“Yes.” Niles then took his finger and put it into his mouth. “Mm nice. Let me get another taste.”

Owain easily pressed his ice cream closer. Niles took a lick of the first flavour and hummed. He then took his spoon and offered a spoonful to Owain. Leaning forward, Owain tried some and beamed.

“It tastes so good.”

Niles took the spoon and put it into his mouth. “It does, doesn’t it?”

Behind them someone coughed and Owain tried to not feel bad for the random person. Being sick during the summer was the worse. Happily Owain continued to eat his ice cream, savouring the moment with Niles.

 

~

 

Location for studying was decided a week later. Owain had taken another look at the various areas around campus and upon deeming they were too busy or full, he took the leap and offered his place. To his delight, Leo and Niles agreed. It was the best option in Owain’s mind. Studying intensively for finals was best done in private and not in coffee shops.

That also meant Owain had to clean his apartment. Which resulted in him spending the entire morning before Leo and Niles came over running around cleaning every thing he could think of. Owain scrubbed countertops, swept floors, and took garbage out before reorganizing things. Soon, it close to the time Leo and Niles were arriving at. Owain washed his face, put on a clean shirt and not sweatpants before putting his coffee maker on along with cups. Owain then went to put his study materials out on the table. He was just finishing up when his phone went off. Owain checked and saw the text message, indicating Niles and Leo had arrived.

Owain didn’t bother texting them back, as a moment later they knocked on his door. Opening it, Owain saw Leo first, with his studying materials and a shirt with the collar not inside out. Then, he saw Niles, who was holding a canvas bag that looked rather full.

“Greetings!” Owain stepped aside, allowing them to enter.

“Hello, Odin,” Leo greeted.

Niles however, lifted the bag up to Owain’s eye level. “I brought food. I’m borrowing your fridge.”

“Oh, okay.” Owain tried to peek into the bag to see what was inside. Niles moved too fast for him to see.

“Want us in the living room?” Leo asked.

His voice brought Owain’s attention back. He nodded and they went to the living room. Leo set up and soon they fell into studying. It was a comfortable routine especially when Niles joined them a moment later, holding a plate of cookies for them to munch as they went along with their studying. Niles sat beside Leo and their shoulders brushed as they moved. Owain tried to not stare and focused on studying. When they finished the entire section, Leo closed his book and stretched, groaning.

“I think we did well,” Owain commented.

“We did,” Leo agreed with ease. “I think we deserve a break.”

“I put coffee on,” Owain suggested. “I can get that for us.”

“Thank you,” Leo called out as Owain stood up.

Humming to himself, Owain filled the cups and even brought out his matching sugar bowl and cream holder that his Aunt Emmeryn gave him. Making sure to not spill anything, Owain took Niles and Leo’s cups out to the living room slowly.

Upon entering he saw Niles leaning into Leo. Their hands were together, laced, and Niles was pressing a kiss to Leo’s lips. Owain froze, his heart pumping harshly in his chest at the display. Leo and Niles had been very good with not overly displaying affection and Owain hadn’t seen them kissing since that last time. However, unlike last time, the sting in his heart actually hurt. Owain frowned, unable to figure out why. Leo and Niles had been considerate and really, Owain was being the weird one. Slowly, Owain stepped back into the kitchen, took a few deep breaths, and returned loudly.

“I have brought the coffee!” Owain kept his voice cheerful. “I’ll bring the sugar and cream out in a moment.”

Niles and Leo weren’t entirely in each other’s space, but they were still holding hands. Owain did his best to ignore it as well as the tingle in his stomach that wasn’t leaving and set the coffee down properly.

“Thank you, Odin.” Niles took his cup and sipped it.

“You’re welcome,” Owain replied as casually as he could before he entered his kitchen again.

Giving a solid moment, Owain scolded himself mentally. Here he was, acting weird around his friends. Sure, they were dating and all, but to get all flustered over them kissing (privately, when Owain was away) was childish. Besides, Owain was happy for them. That was all that mattered. Nodding to himself, Owain grabbed his coffee along with the sugar and cream. Exiting to the living room, Owain sat back down and took a large lump of sugar, stirring it into his coffee.

“I’m impressed,” Niles started. “That’s a lot of sugar.”

“What can I say?” Owain took a sip of his coffee. “I need the boost.”

“Well, don’t ruin dinner,” Niles replied.

“Dinner?” Owain repeated numbly. “I guess that ruins my plans to eat another cookie.”

He meant it as a joke, but Niles nodded firmly. “I didn’t spend the morning prepping dinner for us only to have you ruin your appetite. So, you’re officially banned from cookies.”

It took Owain’s brain a solid minute to process what Niles had just said. When it hit him, Owain nearly stumbled up. “You’re doing what?”

“I’m making us dinner,” Niles bluntly said. “You two are studying late, and it’s healthier if we have a home cooked meal. I would have mentioned it to you earlier, but I didn’t want you feeling obligated in buying groceries. That, and I’m cooking, so you don’t even know what I would have wanted.”

“I can’t…” Owain tried to protest.

Niles boldly leaned over the table and pressed a finger to Owain’s lips. Owain froze at the touch, trying to not think too hard about Niles and his proximity.

“Don’t argue. Just let me cook. I’m a pretty decent one, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“That’s not—”

“Then we’re all good.” Niles pulled away, smug. “Now, you two study hard or occupy yourselves without me, okay? I’m borrowing your kitchen, Odin.”

He then sauntered off. Owain tried to protest, but Leo pulled his attention back by opening a textbook. “Let’s continue.”

With no real argument to have, Owain just followed Leo’s lead. However, their speed from earlier had paid off and they finished within another hour. Owain glanced at his clock. Niles was still in the kitchen and they were done studying. What else to do?

“Say, I remember you once told me about a chess set?” Leo asked.

Owain perked up. “Oh, yeah! Want to play a few games?”

Leo smiled. “I’d like that.”

“One moment.”

Owain stood up and went to grab the chessboard from his room. Locating it easily, Owain then brought it out to Leo, setting it up with ease. Leo and Owain then choose their sides (Owain taking black because of his dark aura) and soon they were playing.

 

~

 

Leo stared at the chessboard, looking thoughtful. There were less black pieces than white pieces on the board, but only just. The scene of something delicious wafted from the kitchen. From the sounds of plates being pulled out of the cupboards, Niles was nearly finished.

“Congratulations!” Owain announced. “You have bested me twice now! Truly you must have studied some mystic arts to become so skilled.”

“Nothing of the sort,” Leo said, looking up. He pointed at the chessboard. “But you nearly beat me that second time. Do you play chess often?”

Owain smiled at the praise. “Not in many a moon.”

That was putting it lightly. Owain had to really search his memory for the last time he’d played chess. He’d only suggested it because Leo had seemed the time to enjoy it, and he was thankful he’d remembered most of the rules. Owain had been admittedly rusty their first round, but a quick study of how Leo liked to play had prepared him more for the second.

“Really?” Leo sounded somewhat surprised. “You should consider it then. With a bit more practice, I think you’d be a valuable asset to any team. At the very least, you’re an intriguing opponent.”

Owain wasn’t sure if Leo described him as “intriguing” because Owain had made some bold but technically legal moves during their game or if Owain had simply impressed him that much. Either way, he scratched the back of his neck in flattery and said another thanks.

“You should listen to him, Odin,” Niles said from the kitchen. “Perhaps you could give me some reprieve from being Leo’s sole chess partner every now and again.”

“Please,” Leo scoffed. “You do just fine, Niles.”

Niles smiled cheekily. “But I can never beat you, can I?”

“I can see why,” Owain said. “Leo’s quite the tactician.”

Leo nodded his head in acknowledgement, the corners of his lips quirked upwards. “Shall we go a third round?”

Owain was just about to point out their timing when Niles did it for him.

“How about we save you showing off for a third time for after dinner,” Niles said.

He picked up two of the now full dinner plates from the counter and sauntered over to the couch. He handed the first to Owain, who had curled up in an adjacent chair in order to face Leo while they played. Niles draped himself over the back of the couch to hand the second plate to Leo, kissing his boyfriend on the top of his head before returning to the kitchen. The tips of Leo’s ears turned red and he smiled a bit wider as Niles pulled away, but he didn’t otherwise react.

For a second time that evening Owain felt something strange stir inside him. His chest tightened without reason, and the unusual tingle in the pit of his stomach returned. He had no excuse to step out of the room like he had last time, so he swallowed the feeling as best he could and inspected the dinner Niles had skillfully made instead.

“Wow, this looks incredible,” Owain blurted as he registered the food on his plate for the first time.

Niles had made what appeared to be kabobs with various meats and vegetables stacked on top of one another. Somehow he’d found the time to cook a side of mashed potatoes as well. Owain had apparently been more focused on the chess game than he’d thought.

It wasn’t an incredibly artisanal meal, but it looked like one Niles had made at least a handful of times before. It was certainly better than most of the meals Owain bothered to make for just himself. As Niles began to speak, Owain took a bite of one of the kabobs and found they tasted just as good as they looked.

“I’m glad you can appreciate my hard work,” Niles said as he settled down next to Leo, clutching his own plate carefully. “That means you can cook for us next time.”

Leo rolled his eyes. “Niles."

“What? It’s a fair trade.” Niles was smirking for some reason.

Around another mouthful of kabob, Owain said, “I will hone my culinary skills and do my best to impress!”

“Charming,” Niles said dryly. Leo stifled a laugh into his hand.

Owain swallowed.

He’d noticed how Niles and Leo had cozied up next to each other once more, probably without even realizing. Owain became suddenly too aware of the way his heart thudded in his chest.

What was wrong with himself, he wondered. Since their first incident of intimacy wherein Owain had realized they were a couple, Leo and Niles had kept their romantic overtures on a short leash in front of him. Not that Owain had minded at all or said anything about it to them. Until this moment, he had simply had chalked them up as being an overly private couple in front of friends. Had he somehow gained a seal of approval that allowed them to act more like a real couple in front of him? And if so, why did Owain feel so out of place when he saw them now? Nothing regarding how Owain felt about Niles and Leo had changed in the last few months. If anything, Owain had only gotten closer to Niles and Leo with time.

Niles and Leo were an incredibly conservative couple—at least by Owain’s standards. Even the few chaste kisses they’d exchanged in front of him were just that: incredibly chaste.

So then why did Owain feel as odd as he did when he saw them hold hands for too long or peck each other on the head affectionately? He shouldn’t have—

“Hello?” Niles tilted his head. “Earth to Odin?”

Owain’s shoulders jumped. He blinked several times to bring himself back to reality, realizing suddenly that he must have spaced and stared at the wall for too long while he’d been thinking.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Leo asked.

Owain hastily shook his head. “My apologies! I’m afraid I was lost in the depths of the culinary arts for a moments. I have to start planning now if I’m ever going to surpass a meal this magnificent, this momentous, this—”

Niles sighed exaggeratedly and leaned his head on Leo’s shoulder. “Oh, what a sweet talker he is. When did you stop talking to me like that, Leo? Has our love gone sour so quickly?”

In a tone full of both exasperation and affection, Leo said, “Eat your food, dear.”

Owain swallowed another bite of food. He found it suddenly tasteless.

 

~

 

The weird, unsettling feeling didn’t leave Owain’s stomach. It didn’t leave after supper when they cleaned up, Owain insisting on doing the dishes because Niles cooked dinner and Leo was his guest. Dishes provided him with an ample excuse to duck out of the room and leave the two alone. As Owain filled the sink with water, he stared at the bubbles forming and tried to sort through his thoughts, to find logic in what he was feeling. The root of the problem was unclear to Owain, though he knew the instigator. It churned Owain’s stomach to conclude that the reason he was feeling down was due to Niles and Leo and their intimacy.

It was to be expected; Owain wasn’t used to being around couples and one quick look at his phone, as though the darkened screen could tell him all, reminded Owain of his friends. Most of them weren’t dating, or if they were, it hadn’t been for very long. Of course, Owain knew of Inigo and Xander, but Inigo’s texts had become surprisingly sparse. Whether it was due to rehearsals or studies, Owain wasn’t sure, and he wasn’t going to pester. Besides, Inigo’s relationship was just starting, and Owain hadn’t the chance to actually meet Xander in person. Who knew if this was just how Owain would always feel around couples or not. Owain certainly didn’t have the opportunity to figure things out.

“Odin?”

Whipping his head around, Owain saw Leo standing by the entrance, his phone in hand. Swallowing and shoving his thoughts aside, Owain gave his best smile and turned the water to the sink off.

“Yes?”

“My apologies for this, but Niles and I need to run off.” Leo explained, his lips twisting. “It’s a business thing,” he added as an explanation.

Leo didn’t need to give further explanation but Owain appreciated it. “I understand.”

“Thank you.” Leo gave a small smile. “Again, I’m sorry for running off. We’ll have to do this again.”

Owain felt a lump in his throat. Could he survive another round of just him, Leo, and Niles in a room? Could he stand to see the two intimate again? Owain wasn’t sure, but he shoved those worries aside. He just needed to get over himself. Leo and Niles could be intimate, and Owain could just control himself, learn how to shove down the strange feeling at Leo and Niles and their intimacy.

“Odin?” Leo’s voice hit Owain.

“My apologies.” Owain flushed, shoving all his thoughts and concerns away. “I just found myself lost in thought. Let me see you two out.”

“Thank you.”

Owain walked out and saw that Niles was already ready to leave, their things packed. Owain stared. They had packed up before telling him. A dark thought hit Owain at the realization this meant they could have left without telling him. The thought was so out of place that Owain immediately scolded himself. They were friends. Leo and Niles wouldn’t do that to him. Owain was just analyzing things too hard.

“Thanks again for dinner.” Owain looked at Niles.

Niles gave a lazy smile and reached out to fluff Owain’s hair. The touch sent an electric shock through Owain, but Niles didn’t seem to notice.

“It’s my pleasure,” Niles said with a low voice. “Please, allow me to do it again.”

Owain felt the warmth of Niles’s touch and it burned into his heart slowly. “Sure, though you did tell me to cook next time, so your turn will have to wait.”

“Yes, I did, didn’t I?” Niles agreed. “After your turn then.”

“We’ll see you tomorrow Odin.” Leo was then beside Niles, arms lightly brushing. “Thanks for having us over.”

“You’re welcome.” Owain refused to stare at where Leo and Niles were brushing. “Any time.”

The two left and Owain remained standing at the door, staring at it for a solid minute before he forced himself to go back to his empty apartment and empty kitchen. Staring at the sink, Owain was suddenly hit with how lonely but happy he felt, the two emotions juxtaposed inside of him.

Owain meandered through washing the dishes, the hollow feeling of the emotions battling it out, not leaving him.

 

~

 

The next day Owain still felt a bit hollow, but determined to make the most of his day. Last night he had over analyzed. That was the only explanation Owain could think of. He had simply come to the conclusion he was sort of a third wheel, and while Leo and Niles didn’t intentionally cause Owain to feel that way, if they did it again Owain would just be honest. After all, friendships were built on honesty.

Keeping that in mind, Owain entered the lecture hall. It was once again early and not a lot of people were there, but Leo was, like always. Seeing Leo reminded Owain that he wasn’t going to dwell too much on thoughts that didn’t concern Leo. All Owain had to do was act like himself.

“Greetings, Leo!” Owain bounced over, taking a seat. “What sort of morning has awaited you?”

Leo turned and at once Owain’s mouth dried, his words dying. Under Leo’s collarbone, which in Leo’s defense, was hidden at a specific angle, was a hickey. A red hickey. Owain didn’t know if it was only red because Leo had tried to cover it up with makeup but some rubbed off or if Leo just didn’t try to cover it. Regardless, it sent Owain’s mind to a halt and the twisting feeling hit his stomach again. Ripping his eyes away, Owain scolded mentally to himself and steadied his heart, forcing his brain to listen to Leo.

“...and how is your morning?”

Crap. Owain had missed a good chunk of what Leo had just said. Guilt spread through him, but Owain wasn’t going to admit it. “My morning has been fine.”

 _Liar_ , a small voice whispered in the back of Owain’s mind. Owain shoved it away too. “Although with this class almost over, I’ll have to think about next semester’s classes.”

Next semester. Owain felt the phrase sit heavily on his heart. There was a very strong chance he wouldn’t be able to share another class with Leo, and what if they couldn’t find time to hang out more and then drifted apart and…

“Odin?” Leo was suddenly touching his hand. “You seem lost in thought. Everything all right?”

The warmth of Leo’s hand burned. Owain wanted it to remain on him. He also wanted it off. He couldn’t decide which. The tug and pull inside made Owain frown. Why was he like this? Leo was his friend, and Owain was still hung up over something minute. He really needed to pull himself together.

“Sorry. Just feeling a bit of the stress,” Owain managed to say.

“I understand.” Leo didn’t move his hand off. “I find if we worry about too many things out of our control, we stress unnecessarily. Let’s take one thing at a time.”

Leo’s word settled in Owain and he exhaled softly. He was right. Owain was doing mental gymnastics when he didn’t need to. Leo and Niles were his friends. That’s what mattered in the end.

“You’re absolutely correct.” Owain smiled. “Thank you, Leo.”

“You’re welcome.”

Leo didn’t move his hand and Owain couldn’t find it inside of him to tell Leo to move it. So, Owain sat through the entire lecture, Leo’s hand warmly on top of his, burning and soothing all at the same time. Owain felt like he was sinking and floating simultaneously through the entire lecture.

 

~

 

After class, Owain decided to take a detour on his way home. He hadn’t done grocery shopping yet, and if he was downtown Owain figured he could window shop a little. Humming to himself, Owain walked and saw people bustle around, businesses open, restaurants smelling wonderful. A few shops were ones Owain had visited before, so Owain ran a small mental list of the ones he wanted to go into. The first shop was the tea and coffee shop. The place was locally run and offered a variety of loose tea and coffee beans. They even ground the coffee beans up for people. Owain stepped inside, intent on buying a few things when he spotted a blur of pink and black. Automatically Owain reached out and grabbed whatever was flying at him.

Said pink and black object turned out to be a person. A few parcels hit Owain’s shoulder and he realized the person—a woman—must have tripped.

“Ahhh, I’m so sorry!” she exclaimed, standing up, steadying herself. “Are you all right?”

Owain took a step back and carefully moved her parcels so they wouldn’t topple over again. “I’m fine. Yourself?”

“I’m right as rain!” she said. “Well, until I tripped. Thanks for catching me.”

Now that the crisis was over Owain took a good look at her. The girl looked around his age and had long pink hair. Her clothes consisted of a black dress and short puffy sleeves. She had stockings on and also had a white apron over her front. She was essentially dressed up as a maid. An honest to goodness maid. Owain tried to not stare, but it was so cool. She was comfortable enough to essentially do a form of cosplaying in public.

“Not a problem.” Owain slowly remembered to answer.

“My supervisor would be so upset if he…” The girl stopped. “Oh no! Sorry! I need to run off,” she added as an explanation. “Thank you again!”

“You’re welcome,” Owain once again said. “And perhaps you shouldn’t run,” he added.

The girl flushed. “Ah. Right.”

She then scuttled out of the shop. Owain stared at her retreating back before he turned to his own task. She had mentioned a supervisor, so maybe she worked for some sort of cafe or someone wealthy who actually hired someone to dress and be a maid. Owain would say that was ridiculous, but he did grow up seeing some people his Auntie Emmeryn dealt with. Hiring a maid was tame to some of the things people wanted. Regardless, if anything, it was an interesting encounter. Perhaps Owain could tell Leo and Niles about it later. For now, Owain had some shopping to complete.

 

~

 

In the evening Owain tried to cook a decent meal, remembering the promise he had with Leo and Niles. Following a simple recipe from his mother, Owain felt like he had managed to cook the rice, vegetables, and meat decently enough. Sitting at the table, Owain ate silently, checking his laptop, watching a few DIY videos absentmindedly. The room felt quiet without Leo or Niles present. It felt like incentive to invite them over again. Maybe this next time Owain would have his mind in gear and would be able to handle them as a couple better.

Finishing his meal, Owain put his dishes in the dishwasher and decided now was the time to try out some of the new coffee beans he had purchased. Going to his coffee maker, Owain opened the drawer underneath and paused. He didn’t have any coffee filters. Nothing. Owain checked a few other cabinets but turned up empty. Frowning Owain looked at his coffee maker and at his new ground coffee beans and came to a choice. He could just ignore it, go out the next day, but he really wanted to try his new coffee. Sure, that meant Owain would have to take a bus to the nearest grocery store, but that was only ten minutes away and even if it was getting dark outside, it was still relatively early.

Owain grabbed his wallet and keys before exiting his place. Walking down to the familiar bus stop, Owain went on the first bus that came around, lucky that his timing was perfect. As they bus drove on, Owain checked his phone. No messages from Inigo or Severa. No messages from Niles and Leo as well. Tucking his phone into his pocket, Owain zoned out for the rest of the drive and got off at his stop.

The grocery store was quiet and Owain zipped through the aisles to the coffee filters. Deciding to buy two packages for the future, Owain paid for his purchase and walked outside. Waiting for another bus was an option, but Owain had been lucky the first time. Walking back would take a bit longer, but Owain didn’t mind the exercise.

He walked down the familiar street, watching the sun slowly set, a slide of dark orange and red in the navy sky. The air was warm, a bit crisp with the wind, but Owain savoured it. Fall was going to approach soon and while Owain liked all the seasons, he didn’t always like dressing up for the weather.

Turning the corner, Owain continued to walk past some slightly outdated businesses. Some of them were up for lease, and a few were just tiny places. A lot of the buildings looked worse for wear and empty, and Owain knew that lingering around too long wasn’t a smart idea. There wasn’t anyone else around, but somehow that put him even more on edge. He picked up his pace, meaning to head back to a major street when he saw the flash of pink and black again.

Stopping, Owain turned his head. At the start of an alley was that girl he had spotted earlier, the one in the coffee shop. She wasn’t in a dress this time, but something a bit more practical looking. Owain blinked at the coincidence and decided to keep moving. It would be awkward to call out to her. However, just before Owain could move on, he saw a sudden shadow follow the girl.

In that moment, Owain’s blood froze. He had grown up in a very safe neighbourhood, but Owain wasn’t naive. The person following her was hunched over, and while it could have been a local just on a walk, Owain’s gut was screaming at him to follow and make sure the girl was safe.

Sprinting off, Owain moved, his heart pounding roughly in his chest. All he had on him was his wallet, his keys, and his coffee filters. Sure, Owain knew self defense thanks to his father and Uncle Basilio, but if the person had a weapon Owain would be in trouble, as well as the girl. Hopefully, things wouldn’t turn into a brawl.

A scream echoed roughly off the walls, and that killed Owain’s hope of things going well. His heart burst into his chest, and Owain raced off down the alleyway, towards the sound. Rounding the corner, he saw the girl, surrounded by some people who didn’t look friendly. Her eyes were wide, like she was frozen in thought. Owain reacted before his body could freeze. Racing over, he tackled the closest person to him, toppling over. The sound broke the ranks, and Owain took the confusion to his advantage and swung his grocery bag at another person. It hit and Owain scrambled to his feet, moving towards the girl. In the best case scenario, both of them escaped. They were outnumbered, and the best option to get out and call the police.

“You!” Her voice was surprisingly firm. “What are you doing here?”

“I was just buying coffee filters,” Owain told her. “But let’s talk when we’re out of here?”

He tried to tug her, but before they could move someone was charging at them. Owain ducked down, hoping that keeping low would help him topple the person over. Ramming his shoulder into the guy’s sternum, Owain straightened up and looked at the girl again.

“Come on!” Owain urged. “We need to get out of here.”

She opened his mouth, but Owain saw a flash of something shiny in the distance. Then, a large, loud sound filled the area and Owain’s shoulder suddenly burned. Gasping, Owain fell to the ground, touching his shoulder. His mind was racing, and all he could think was “ _it hurts, it hurts, it hurts.”_

“That’s it!” the girl suddenly exclaimed, and Owain then heard the sound of something flying through the air, like metal soaring. “You’re just a stain!” Her voice filled the area.

Owain wasn’t sure what was happening, his mind overloading with the pain. Was he shot? Was he bleeding out? Why did he feel cold and hot at the same time? Was that the shock?

“It’s grazed,” the girl informed him, suddenly close by. “That man is a terrible shot. You’re very lucky. Let’s get out of here. I know basic first aid, and I was on my way to meet my sister and my boss. She’s better at first aid than I am. I’m Felicia, by the way.” She babbled on.

It helped Owain focus. He sucked in a breath and leaned into her. “I’m Owain.”

“Wait.” Felicia’s voice rose. “ _Y_ _ou’re_ Owain?”

The way she was talking… Did she know him? Owain tried to think, but then he heard the sound of footsteps and heard Felicia cuss under her breath. Were they surrounded? Owain wasn’t sure, but this was like an action movie. The Hero surrounded along with his comrade in arms. They’d have to bust out and dodge while being injured…

Another loud sound—this time one Owain was able to identify as a gunshot—filled the area once again. This time, however, instead of Owain feeling pain, the people around them were in panic. Felicia left his side and Owain shivered again, his mind screaming for something to anchor himself. Owain gripped his arm so tightly it bruised.

To distract himself, Owain tried to stand up and think about all the first aid his mother had told him. Direct pressure on the wound. He needed to keep pressure…

“Owain. Owain?” That was Felicia. “It’s fine now. It’s all fine. Let me see that wound…”

It took Owain a solid minute to realize the area was silent. It then took Owain a moment to realize they were not alone. Two figures were moving closer to them. Was that Felicia’s sister and her boss? Felicia did say she was meeting them…

Owain looked around and then noticed the bodies on the ground, not moving. Were they dead? They had to be. Probably. Owain wasn’t sure and he couldn’t think. His body was cold and his mind dizzy.

“Shit.” A low voice, a familiar voice filled Owain’s ears. “He’s injured?”

“Yes, he is!” Felicia spoke rapidly. “It’s just a graze from a bullet, but…”

Owain felt his brain disconnect from his mind for a solid second and in that second someone was kneeling in front of him. Owain blinked rapidly and tried to focus on the figure in front of him. It took a long moment, but then Owain saw.

Niles was there in front of him. He was wearing black, and as he moved, Owain saw the shine of a gun at his side. His hair was pulled up, and for a moment Niles looked like some sort of angel of death. Owain laughed to himself. The scene somehow slotted neatly into Owain’s head. Niles had shot the people who had surrounded them. He had saved them, swooped in like a cool hero. Well, Niles was pretty cool.

“I’m impressed you’re complimenting me, but let’s keep that down for now.”

Oops. Did Owain say that aloud? He giggled, feeling the rush of clarity and calm wash over him. “Sorry.”

“Odin?"

Another voice filled the air and it was equally as familiar. Owain looked past Niles and saw Leo, beautiful, calm, collected Leo kneeling by his side, his brow slightly turned in worry. Owain felt a surge of embarrassment and looked over at Felicia. She wasn’t injured, but he was. Some hero he turned out to be.

“That’s the least of your worries, Odin,” Leo said with a sharp sigh.

Oops. Owain had said that aloud too. He held back his giggle and focused on Felicia, who had a first aid kit by her side. The embarrassment washed over Owain again and he reached out for the kit. They had bodies on the ground, police to phone, and if there was only the three of them they didn’t have a moment to waste.

“What are you doing?” Niles sharply asked and grabbed Owain’s hand.

“You have other things to do,” Owain told Niles rationally. “Like phoning the police. Thanks for the save, by the way. However, you should focus on that. I have no doubt if you explain it was self defense, the police won’t give you too much of a hassle. You can focus on the big stuff. I can patch myself up.”

“Owain…” Leo stared at him.

“I did tell you my mother has a medical background,” Owain reminded Leo. It made sense that Leo had forgotten. They were in a high stress situation. “I’ve picked up some first aid tricks. Rest assured, I can properly bandage myself up.”

With that, Owain took the first aid kit and began to work.

 

~

 

Felicia helped Owain patch up the the graze on his shoulder. Which was a good thing, because Owain’s assurances to Leo aside, his hands had actually begun to shake when he tried to unwind the bandages himself. Owain flashed Felicia a grateful smile when she took the bandages from his hands, and she gave him an anxious one in return. After that, he sat back and let her work, only vaguely aware of Felicia when she asked him to adjust his shoulder so she could get the bandages on right.

Owain’s giddy lightheadedness gave away after a few minutes, but the shock didn’t leave him. Now he was just shaky and reliving the scuffle behind his eyes every time he blinked. It had been difficult to tell who was who or even what had happened in the scuffle. Now that he was thinking back on it as Felicia worked on his shoulder, he was still having trouble sorting it all.

His confusion distracted him enough that he didn’t linger on the question of why Leo and Niles had suddenly shown up for very long. A lot of weird things had happened very quickly; their arrival was just one of them. Sorting the rest of it—who had done what, what those sounds had been, if he’d seen anyone’s faces—was difficult enough on its own. It wasn’t even until he realized Felicia had stopped tending to his shoulder that he was brought back to reality at all.

Owain blinked. His newly bandaged shoulder throbbed, but he knew it could have been deeper. He was lucky. He adjusted his shirt back into place with a wince and turned his head towards the mouth in the alley.

Felicia was peering around the corner anxiously. Behind her, though still near the mouth of the alley, Niles and Leo looked like they were having a rapid discussion. Two fallen bodies separated them from Owain.

It had been sunset when Owain and Felicia had been jumped. Enough time had passed that it was nearly completely dark now, only a few fading rays of red and orange fighting a losing battle against the shadows of the buildings around them.

Niles’s gun was gone, Owain noted.

No, not gone. Just tucked away somewhere he couldn’t see.

He swallowed. His eyes were unconsciously drawn to the bodies of the thugs.

One was crumbled face-first into the ground. It was dark enough that Owain couldn’t see his wounds directly, but most of the blood was pooling around his head. Owain remembered the sound of the gunshot from earlier. He could put two and two together.

There was a second man. He laid on his side, facing away from Owain. If he was breathing, Owain couldn’t tell. He spotted a glint of metal just beyond the curve of the goon’s body. A knife of some kind? It looked like it was sticking out of the man’s neck. Was that what Felicia had thrown? Had there only been two men? Or were there others that had escaped?

Owain couldn’t recall. He couldn’t stop staring.

For a moment he thought the reality of the situation was about to hit him too hard. He felt his breath hitch, felt his shoulder pulse again. Owain barely managed to force his shaking fingers into a fist.

Then he closed his eyes again. He took a steadying breath, forcing himself to relax. He thought about all the movies he’d ever seen and how the heroes had acted in them. How the nameless goons were just that—nameless and faceless and dumb.

When he opened his eyes again, he noticed how he couldn’t see either of their faces. How he didn’t think he ever had. Any distinctive human features the goons might have once had turned hazy in his mind even as he looked at them.

It helped better than Owain had expected. Suddenly the reality of the situation seemed a little less… realistic. A little more absurd.

A little more like a movie.

Owain wasn’t necessarily the hero of this scene. Not yet. He hadn’t been the hero with his aunt’s troubles, and he hadn’t been the hero now with Felicia. At the very most, he was the sidekick who got in over his head trying to do the right thing. The sidekick who had to be rescued by the real heroes.

And if that was the case…

“Hey.” Niles’s voice cut through Owain’s swirling thoughts. Owain jerked and found Niles staring. The fallen goons between them melted into background textures.

Niles and Leo shared a look.

“Are you alright?” Leo asked, taking a step closer. “How’s your shoulder? Did Felicia take care of it?”

“Flora can do better,” Felicia chimed in from the mouth of the alley. “You know, when we get out of here. Which we might want to do soon, considering…”

Niles barely inclined his head towards Felicia, but she still cut herself off with a squeak and whirled back around to stand watch anyway.

Owain stared at them.

 _These_ were the real heroes.

Felicia, yes, but Leo and Niles most definitely. _They_ had been the ones who swoop in at the last second, saving the day. _They_ had been the ones taking care of Owain from the start. _They_ were the cool ones, the clever ones, the heroes who burst in guns blazing. Literally. Just like the heroes Owain had always kept locked up in his head.

Something shifted in his chest.

“Owain?” Leo said again.

Owain breathed in. He didn’t know how long it had been since he’d first zoned out while Felicia had been tending to him.

“When will the police get here?” he asked, wincing as he shifted his weight. He’d been sitting while Felicia had bandaged him, but now he pushed himself up the wall with his good hand and managed to stand on mostly solid legs.

Niles and Leo didn’t share a look this time, but the way they notably _didn’t_ look at each other spoke volumes. Owain instinctively braced himself.

They both stepped closer before answering, boxing Owain in against the wall. With anyone else, he might have been worried. But it was Leo and Niles, so he didn’t mind. Niles even kept careful distance, making sure not to jostle Owain’s shoulder. He was still close.

“Well?” Owain prompted after a beat,

“We didn’t call the police,” Niles said blandly. He waited for a reaction. Leo sent Niles a sharp look but didn’t correct him.

Owain paused. Nothing more was said.

“Okay,” he said slowly. “And you haven’t done that because…”

“Because these men were part of an opposing family, and they only attacked Felicia to get to us,” Niles said. “So we’re going to dispose of the bodies ourselves.”

Leo made the same face he always made when Niles got too flirty or said something a little more boldly than he would have liked. He grimaced. But again, he didn’t correct Niles.

It took a moment for Owain’s newly cleared mind to process this information.

“When you say ‘opposing family,’ do you mean—”

His eyes darted between Niles and Leo. They weren’t married, and that wouldn’t have made sense anyway. So—

“Like organized crime, yes,” Leo said somewhat stiffly. Under his breath he hissed, _“Like ripping off a bandaid.”_

Had that been meant for Owain? Probably not. It sounded like a quote. Niles didn’t react besides a strange upward quick of the mouth, so Owain didn’t either.

“Okay,” Owain said again. He was still processing this this new information. Making it make sense in his mind.

“Um, sir?” Felicia’s voice floated in Owain’s periphery again, but he didn’t look at her. “I know this is important, but we might want to go soon?”

“In a moment, Felicia.” Leo answered without tearing his eyes away from Owain.

 _“I was on my way to meet my sister and my boss,”_ Felicia had said.

Owain’s mouth opened. “You’re Felicia’s boss.”

“Very good,” Niles intoned. He leaned in closer. “He’s the boss, I’m his second, Felicia works for us, and you…”

Owain had been told a great many things tonight, and he waited to be told another thing that would probably blow him out of the water some more. But Niles trailed off like Owain was supposed to fill in the blank.

“What about me?” Owain asked after a beat. After Leo lifted his chin expectantly.

Niles nodded. “Isn’t that the golden question?”

If it was, Owain didn’t have an answer.

Leo breathed out through his nose in a huff, the only crack in his impeccable mask Owain has seen so far. Owain blinked in surprise when Leo took his hand. Distantly, he realized the irony in being the one at a loss for words for once.

“I understand that this is a lot to process right now,” Leo said, somewhat rushed. “But time is of the essence, and we need to make sure you understand what what’s happening before—”

He cut his sentence short, but Owain could guess what the next words would have been.

“Before I see something I shouldn’t?” They were words right out of every movie and story he’d ever heard.

Niles shrugged almost lazily, but Owain could see how tight his shoulders appeared under his facade. Leo’s face was calm, but he held Owain’s hand in a grip that was deathly tight. Anxious. Where the rest of Owain’s skin had long since gone cold, the place Leo touched was warm.

Owain’s world had narrowed to just the two of them.

“I…”

He scrambled for the right answer. He didn’t know what he was supposed to say, but Leo and Niles were both waiting for the right reply. Owain wanted to give it to them.

Well. Niles had mentioned the police. So that was probably a good a place to start as any.

“I won’t tell anyone about this,” Owain said. When Leo and Niles didn’t immediately react, he hurried to add, “Not even the police. Not if it’s bad for you guys. I don’t know what’s going on here—” His mind swam with the words “organized crime” and “opposing family” and all the implications in between. The details weren’t important though. “But…”

“But what?” Leo asked. His eyes were so focused.

The back of Niles’s hand brushed Owain’s fingertips, grazing the hand Leo wasn’t holding. Suddenly, between the two of them, Owain felt his resolve harden.

“You saved us,” Owain said, belatedly changing the “me” to “us” at the last second. “So I don’t need to know. I know who two you are even without the bigger picture.”

They were heroes. But they were more than that too.

They were Owain’s friends. They’d eaten and studied and laughed together. Owain didn’t have many friends. But the past few months, he’d come to find he had Leo and Niles. And he really wanted to keep it that way.

And maybe he was jealous of them from time to time in a strange way he couldn’t yet identify, but even so…

Even so.

“I’m glad,” Leo breathed, closing his eyes briefly in relief. Owain’s heart swelled as he realized he’d said the right thing. It swelled even more when Leo pressed closer, taking Owain’s cheek in his hand. “Odin, when I saw you were hurt, I…”

Their noses brushed. Leo paused there, seemingly waiting for something. Owain’s chest felt like it was on the verge of bursting. Anticipation and surprise shot through him. He glanced toward Niles, startled.

Niles was watching them intently, but not angrily. Merely expectancy. He seemed to know what was coming before Owain did.

When Owain looked back, Leo was pressing their lips together gently.

It was a very chaste kiss, all things considered. Owain didn’t even register it as a real _kiss_ until Leo was pulling back, eyes tight. He gaped.

Frowning, Leo glanced toward Niles. “Did I misread this?”

Niles eyed Owain curiously.

Owain continued to gape.

“I thought not, but… Hm.” Niles caught Owain’s eye. “Well?”

Dimly, Owain remembered that there were bodies laying a few feet away. He thought it strange that Leo would suddenly choose to kiss Owain _here_ of all places until he remembered how often the heroes shared kisses with their love interests right outside burning buildings or after staging a daring rescue and the like.

But Niles was _right there_ , so.

The strange, tight feeling returned to Owain’s stomach, but it was different this time. Shifting. He was on the cusp of an epiphany, but about what, he wasn’t sure.

Leo groaned, dropping Owain’s hand. Owain was sorry for the loss before Leo’s words hit him.

“Ugh, I’m an _idiot,_ ” Leo groaned, swiping his hand down his face. “This was—bad. The wrong time. So very much the wrong time.”

“Uh,” Owain said smartly.

“Listen. Owain.” The use of Owain’s real name started him, but Leo barrelled onward. “Please just ignore that. Or, no. We can talk about that later, actually. But later. After we clear everything else up and… discuss some other things.”

Leo flicked a look over his shoulder. He was grimacing and acting as flustered as Owain felt.

Owain said, “Um.”

Niles shifted until Owain’s gaze was drawn to him. He raised his eyebrows.

“Did Leo actually do anything wrong?” Niles asked bluntly. Leo’s mouth clicked shut, his cheeks pink.

Owain had no idea _where_ that kiss had come from, but if Niles didn’t have a problem with it, then no. Owain shook his head.

“Alright.” Then it was Niles’s turn to cup his cheek. “Then would you mind if I joined in as well?”

Owain’s back was pressed against the brick, and his eyes felt large.

He nodded quickly.

“I know at this point it’s obvious how you feel from the looks you’ve been giving us the past few weeks, but I would much prefer it if you said yes or no aloud, please,” Niles said. His voice was kind. There were shadows behind him and Leo both, and Owain didn’t care.

Owain wasn’t sure if Niles had been reading more into whatever “looks” he’d been giving than Owain himself was aware of expressing, but that didn’t matter right now. What mattered was Niles, waiting patiently for a response, and how Owain couldn’t think of _anything_ besides the knowledge Niles would kiss him too if only he said so. Owain hadn’t even realized that was something he’d wanted until now. But he did want it. Badly.

So he swallowed and said, “Yes.”

Niles leaned in. His mouth was just as soft as Leo’s had been, but this time Owain had a little more preparation. He had only just begun to kiss back when Niles pulled away. Owain’s heart thudded in his chest.

“Just so you know, we’re going to sit down and talk about everything else before anything like that happens again,” Niles said as they pulled apart.

“Understood,” Owain said, because even if he didn’t _really_ understand now, they’d apparently have plenty of time later to talk about it.

To his right, Leo had gone from frazzled and embarrassed to looking somewhat more put together again. He flashed Owain a quick smile when Owain looked his way.

“Sir?”

It was Felicia. Owain jolted. He’d forgotten she was there. For a moment, he’d forgotten that his world existed outside the moment he and Niles and Leo were sharing—that time was still marching onward, despite how much Owain wanted to say, wanted to ask.

That unlike the movies, which would have cut away at this point, there was cleanup to be done.

Felicia held herself nervously in front of the alley entrance. She glanced toward the street significantly. It was still just as devoid as people as it had been when she and Owain had first entered, but her worry was palpable in the air anyway.

Sandwiched between Niles and Leo like he was, Owain felt mostly fine. His shock had slowly faded, and fear had never come to replace it, though his shoulder still ached. For whatever reason, the obvious urgency directing Felicia was like a distant spector to him. Logically, his brain knew why she was urging them onward, but the rest of him hadn’t yet gotten the memo.

When Owain looked at the goons on the ground again, the sight of them startled him less than it had the first time. He still couldn’t see their faces.

It was for the best, he decided. The important people were right there in front of him.

Head turned, Leo cleared his throat. “Right. Felicia?”

Felicia raised her head, ready for orders. Leo squeezed Owain’s hand absently before turning around to face her. Niles turned with him, keeping Owain behind them.

“Plans have changed,” Leo said as Niles took car keys out of his pocket and tossed them toward her.

Felicia fumbled with the catch and actually dropped the keys. Leo kept speaking despite his wince. Even Owain had to admit it the pass wasn’t as cool as he’d expected it to be. But maybe that was because Felicia was a more secondary character too.

“Ready the car,” Leo said. “It’s one street north, parked on the corner. Make sure you aren’t followed this time, then drive it back here. Use your judgement."

“Right.” Felicia nodded seriously, keys in hand.

“And message your sister,” Niles added. “Have her meet us here. She went to ready something else, but…”

He shrugged in a “ _what can you do?”_ motion.

Felicia nodded again. “Yes, sir!”

When no other orders came forth, she turned on her heel, looked both ways up and down the street, and rushed off. Then Leo and Niles turned back to him.

“So,” Owain said, lips tingling with memory, “what next?”

Niles cocked his head and lightly said, “Oh, so _now_ you can speak.”

Owain went to scratch the back of his head bashfully, only to gasp and drop his injured arm in pain. He’d moved without thinking. Leo and Niles were on him in a moment.

“Careful,” Leo said, hands hovering anxiously, as Niles inspected his bandages. “Don’t move so much.”

“Sorry,” Owain gasped. He hissed through his teeth at the pain as he straightened, and the pain slowly faded back into the same duller throb. “I forgot.”

Niles relaxed slightly, apparently having decided that he wasn’t going to die. “Do try to keep the blood inside you if you can. We don’t need a third body to clean up.”

Leo sent Niles a sideways glance as Owain was startled into laughing.

“Oh, yeah,” Owain said as the laughter died, a sense of normalcy filling him for the first time in what felt like forever. “What are you going to do about those guys? Will you send a note to their leader swearing revenge? Oh! Or are you going to plot a trap and jump out at the last second to corner them?”

Leo pulled back slightly.

“You’re taking this… rather well,” he observed slowly, frowning.

Owain blinked. “How am I supposed to take it?”

Niles was watching him carefully, Owain noticed. He and Leo shared another quick look. Owain’s gaze flickered between the two of them.

After a moment, Leo shook his head. “Nevermind. We’ll talk about that later. Let’s worry about this for now.”

He gestured to the alley around them.

“Come on,” Niles said, his arm sliding around Owain’s shoulders. His arm was strong and solid, and Owain really, really—“Let’s get you cleaned up.”

And so Owain went.

**Author's Note:**

> Pen Shop Shopkeeper: It's Anna and Tiki in there.
> 
> Pen-Fetch Quest: Just like canon, Leo initially doesn't like Owain. Instead of epic quests to impress Leo, though, Owain is just good at finding things.
> 
> Owain's father: Not explicitly stated, but we're hinting it's Lon'qu
> 
> Claude Magnus: Oh look, he shows up here too.
> 
> How-To Videos: Owain plays these in the background while he works and eats meals. He just likes to know things.
> 
> Owain's Self-Esteem: In a world where it's not zombies and dragons all the time, Owain struggles with different demons. Perhaps "struggles" is too strong of a word. But in a world where the beasts he slays the most is homework and future job prospects, he definitely idolizes people who do seemingly bigger and better things than he (in his mind). His character has largely remained the same aside from this, but you may find Owain has a slightly different vibe than he normally does in other fics because of this slight shift.
> 
> Movie Comparisons: In Awakening and Fates, Owain makes up his own stories. He still does that here, but this is also a modern world, so Owain watches movies too. He canonically doesn't read very much and doesn't seem to like reading aside outside of his own writing, but he probably enjoys movies the same way most people do. It's less boring when it's on a TV screen.
> 
> Cool: Owain is less attracted to men and women and more attracted to people he thinks are cool for whatever reason.
> 
> Odin: If it wasn't obvious enough, Leo got his name wrong because he could not have cared any less about Owain at the start. Then he continued to insist this was definitely Owain's name and he hadn't heard wrong despite no Facebook searches coming up with any Odins in the area. Then he actually started to care about Owain as a human person and was mortified. Equally mortifying is the fact Niles was investigating Owain as a possible threat under the wrong name this whole time--at Leo's insistence.
> 
> Disassociation: Owain copes via his brain making everything Like A Movie. So it's not quite as real to him and he can block out the parts that are too scary or distasteful or he just can't let himself digest in that moment.


End file.
